Squib Summer
a Harry Potter fan-fic
By Ozma and Jelsemium
a sequel to Squib Caretaker
Chapter Three: The Grey Woman's Lair
All recognizable characters copyrighted by J.K. Rowling.
The less recognizable ones might be under your bed.
Have you looked under there, lately?
Harry came to without any idea of how he'd come to be asleep in the
first place. He gradually realized that he was walking. 'Wonderful, I'm
sleep walking now?'
The more aware of his surroundings he became, the more alarmed he
became. He wasn't anywhere he was supposed to be. And he was being towed
along by somebody he strongly suspected wasn't human.
"Come, my sweet," crooned the Grey Woman. "It's getting late and I'm
hungry."
Harry didn't want to go with her. He was hungry, too, but he had a
feeling he wasn't going to be a guest at this meal. He tried to turn
away, but something other than the grip on his wrist was pulling him
along after the Grey Woman. It wasn't exactly the Imperius curse, but
the idea was obviously the same.
"Oh, no, you don't," he thought, and he began fighting in earnest.
*******
As impossible as it was for me to fathom, Potter's family had simply
abandoned him to his fate.
No, that wasn't quite true. "You're from that PLACE he goes to…" the
Aunt had told me, furiously. "YOU help him!"
Of course I would. Someone had to! Dazed, I stumbled down the crowded
street in the direction that Potter's cousin had indicated.
Mrs. Norris struggled frantically to get down from my arms. My cat's
yowling urged me to hurry! The boy was in terrible danger! When I
released her she leaped to the pavement and took off at a run.
Ignoring my headache, I hurried after her as quickly as I could. The
Muggles were giving me an even wider berth than before. Dirty, wild-eyed
and disreputable as I looked, I couldn't blame them.
As I ran, I tried to open up the part of my mind that can sense magic. I
pushed myself harder than I'd done in a long time. There are many
wizarding places hidden within the city, but I was searching for
something older, darker and wilder.
Nothing…!
Nothing…!
Nothing…!
Wait…!
In city streets filled with Muggles, the spell stuck out like a sore
thumb. Some sort of powerful binding spell, though it was unlike any
magic I'd sensed before. I didn't know what sort of creature had taken
Potter, but she wasn't human.
Focused only on this spell I stumbled along, hardly taking notice of my
surroundings. Dodging people, cars and lorries, ducking around dustbins,
I kept pace with Mrs. Norris. I didn't realize how far we'd walked until
I realized that we were getting near the river…
In yet another miserable alley, I collapsed next to a building that
seemed to be abandoned and empty. I was dizzy, aching and exhausted, and
there was a terrible stitch in my side.
Mrs. Norris, tireless as ever, yowled at me. She had stopped outside a
small, dark ground level window that appeared to lead into a basement. A
few pieces of glass were still attached to the window frame. When I rose
unsteadily, Mrs. Norris mewed at me and promptly leaped into the
darkness.
Wrapping my coat around my hand and arm, I knocked the glass shards
away, so I could follow her. The window was a tight fit, and I couldn't
see how much of a drop it was.
After a second that felt like an eternity, I landed, crouched, on a
stone floor about six feet below the window. The stench of old, hungry
magic was everywhere in here. It had soaked into the walls, the floor,
the air. The light that was able to penetrate this chamber was grey and
sickly.
Weaving our way through a jumble of broken crates, battered and
discarded bits of furniture, scraps of rags, old clothes and mouldering
newspapers (Wizarding and Muggle,) Mrs. Norris and I followed our
senses. Broken glass crunched under my feet, along with what appeared to
be pieces of bone.
There were voices in the gloom. One that was recognizable as Potter's,
raised in defiance. And another voice that was simultaneously hungry and
affectionate, a disturbing combination.
"Fight me all you like, my child!" the creature crooned. "A strong,
brave spirit gives a meal such a lovely flavor!"
"I'm NOT your child! I'm not anything of yours! Especially not your
dinner!" Potter snapped.
"That's where you're wrong. Breaker of Dark Wizards you might be, but I
am the Greyling, Devourer of Abandoned Children and you're mine now.
You're unwanted, abandoned by your guardian. You're my rightful prey.
But, go on, struggle if you don't believe me! It won't do you any good.
In accordance with the ancient laws, my hold on you is unbreakable."
I called out, answering the creature before Potter could speak.
"The boy is NOT abandoned!" I gasped, stumbling around a pile of moldy
cardboard boxes.
In the sickly light of a another small, broken-glassed window, Potter
and the Grey Woman stood facing each other. The boy's thin body was
tense. The Grey Woman had no visible hold on Potter. But the foul spell
that held him captive felt overpoweringly strong to me at such close
range.
The creature didn't react to what I'd said. But, I could feel the ripple
that passed over her binding spell. It was like a wind across the
surface of a lake.
"You again! Broken Wizard, I should have snapped your neck when I had
the chance," the Grey Woman grumbled. "You're with him?" she hissed,
glowering at Mrs. Norris.
My cat gave her an unblinking, golden stare.
"Mr. Filch…?" Potter's eyes were wide with shock. "What are you doing
here?"
"Hullo, Potter. Nice to see you too," I said, grumpily. "Your Aunt
Petunia sent me to help you."
The boy's green eyes got even wider. "S-She DID?"
Poor Potter. He seemed even more surprised about that than he'd been at
the sight of me. Having met his Aunt, I could understand why.
I nodded at Harry, and then turned to glare at the Devourer. "You know
who this Boy is! Can you truly believe that HE'S unwanted and
abandoned?"
"He's as good as cast off, if you're the best champion that his guardian
could send," the creature said, giving me a toothy smile.
I was unfamiliar with the ancient laws that she'd spoken of, but her
mention of them was reassuring. Laws could be made to work for Potter
and me too. She'd called me the Aunt's champion….
"Petunia Evans Dursley, sister of this boy's mother, sent me to help
him," I repeated.
The Binding Spell rippled again as I spoke, then it started to fray.
Potter had never ceased struggling to be free, and his efforts began to
pay off. The Binding on him began to feel increasingly stretched and
thin.
"Keep away from her, Mr. Filch," Potter shouted. "She's stronger than
she looks!"
I'd already discovered that for myself, thank you very much. I had a
bloody lump on my head to prove it. But someone had to try to keep her
from recapturing him once he got himself free.
As Potter finally snapped the Binding Spell, I tackled the Grey Woman.
"RUN, BOY!" I bellowed, trying to knock her down.
Mrs. Norris came to my aid, spring towards the Devourer's face with a
flash of claws. My sweet one is a fierce fighter; the creature's face
and arms were considerably bloodied before she managed to fling my cat
away from her.
Then the Grey Woman's hands closed around my throat like bands of iron.
She began to squeeze.
"Boy…" I heard her croon over the roar of blood in my ears and the
desperate pounding of my heart. "Brave Harry Potter. Will you abandon
your deliverer to his fate?"
Ineffectually, I clawed at the Grey Woman's hands. I heard Mrs. Norris
yowling. She was probably clawing at the creature's legs, but the Grey
Woman's hold on me remained strong.
"Come to me, Harry Potter. Now. Or I will break the old man's neck." The
Grey Woman's hands never left my throat, never stopped squeezing.
"You can't have him… he's run away, he's safe," I thought as my vision
dissolved into grey fog. I crumpled to my knees, then collapsed to the
floor.
Then I heard Potter's voice. "Let him go!" the boy shouted.
"Gryffindors!" I thought in despair, as the blackness took me.
To Be Continued
Authors' Notes:
Shadowycat: Thank you!! Yes, poor Filch is gaining some uncomfortable
insights into Harry's home-life. -Ozma
Thanks! After reading Ozma's Filch stories, I wanted to see how Argus
would react to the Dursleys. And how the Dursleys would react to Argus.
So I cleverly lassoed Ozma into writing this with me... heh heh -
Jelsemium
Arundel: Thank you!! Ozma & Jelsemium
Rabbit-and-Jinx: Thank you!! Yes, Petunia didn't want to have to explain
anything about the wizarding world to a policeman. It might have been
worse than embarassing, the police might have thought she was a few
sandwiches short of a picnic. -Ozma
Thanks for the review! I hadn't thought about what Vernon's reaction
might be. Might be amusing to see. As for doing a whole chapter without
resolving any cliffhangers... does the phrase: "Yet Another Snape Meets
the Dursleys story" ring a bell? Latest chapter ends with a lot of
screaming? Hasn't been updated since November THIRD?? -Jelsemium
Larania: Thank you!! -Ozma
Hitting the Dursleys is liable to hurt your hand and make it hard for
you to use your computer! Sic your cat on them instead. (And thanks for
the kind review.) -Jelsemium
Mysterious Unsigned Reviewer: Thank you!! I couldn't see Filch attacking
a lady, but Mrs. Norris has no such compunctions. I believe that there's
still some hope for Dudley. He can't help how he was raised. Perhaps
there's a decent person in there somewhere. Yes, Petunia is a horrible
woman, but some of her antipathy for the wizarding world seems
understandable to me. (It's her attitude towards poor Harry that makes
me loathe her.) -Ozma
Thanks for your kind comments. You have a good point about how Petunia's
brushes with bigoted wizards haven't really improved her mindview
towards them. -Jelsemium
Ariana Deralte: Thank you!! The idea that Petunia might consider ALL
wizards `Freaks' is simply too alien a concept for poor Filch's mind to
grasp. He's used to thinking of himself as different and odd, so he
assumed that Petunia meant the term to apply specifically to him.
(There's more of Filch's reaction to how Harry gets treated in later
chapters.) -Ozma
Thanks for the compliments! I thought that we did a good job with
Petunia's pettiness. I suppose that it's only appropriate that reading
our reviewer responses is like getting Christmas presents, since reading
reviews is the same. Thanks for reviewing the story! - Jelsemium
The Amazing Maurice: Thank you!! -Ozma
Thanks! Glad you like this! All your questions will be answered in good
time, Young Grasshopper! - Jelsemium
Three Sickles Short: Thanks!! The idea of Filch criticizing Petunia's
manners was just too delightful for me to resist. -Ozma
Thanks! Yes, I believe Petunia would know a big word like effrontery.
Fits my view of her as being a frustrated Ravenclaw at heart. I think
that being relegated to the role of a mere housewife is one of the
reasons that Petunia is so bitter.) -Jelsemium
Saphron: Thanks!! Ozma & Jelsemium
Spark-Chick: Thanks!! The comparison between Snape and Petunia seemed so
natural. Here's a new chapter!! -Ozma
Thanks! I thought that the spat between Argus and Petunia was inspired.
(I can say that because Ozma wrote it.) -Jelsemium
A. Lee: Thanks!! -Ozma & Jelsemium
a Harry Potter fan-fic
By Ozma and Jelsemium
a sequel to Squib Caretaker
Chapter Three: The Grey Woman's Lair
All recognizable characters copyrighted by J.K. Rowling.
The less recognizable ones might be under your bed.
Have you looked under there, lately?
Harry came to without any idea of how he'd come to be asleep in the
first place. He gradually realized that he was walking. 'Wonderful, I'm
sleep walking now?'
The more aware of his surroundings he became, the more alarmed he
became. He wasn't anywhere he was supposed to be. And he was being towed
along by somebody he strongly suspected wasn't human.
"Come, my sweet," crooned the Grey Woman. "It's getting late and I'm
hungry."
Harry didn't want to go with her. He was hungry, too, but he had a
feeling he wasn't going to be a guest at this meal. He tried to turn
away, but something other than the grip on his wrist was pulling him
along after the Grey Woman. It wasn't exactly the Imperius curse, but
the idea was obviously the same.
"Oh, no, you don't," he thought, and he began fighting in earnest.
*******
As impossible as it was for me to fathom, Potter's family had simply
abandoned him to his fate.
No, that wasn't quite true. "You're from that PLACE he goes to…" the
Aunt had told me, furiously. "YOU help him!"
Of course I would. Someone had to! Dazed, I stumbled down the crowded
street in the direction that Potter's cousin had indicated.
Mrs. Norris struggled frantically to get down from my arms. My cat's
yowling urged me to hurry! The boy was in terrible danger! When I
released her she leaped to the pavement and took off at a run.
Ignoring my headache, I hurried after her as quickly as I could. The
Muggles were giving me an even wider berth than before. Dirty, wild-eyed
and disreputable as I looked, I couldn't blame them.
As I ran, I tried to open up the part of my mind that can sense magic. I
pushed myself harder than I'd done in a long time. There are many
wizarding places hidden within the city, but I was searching for
something older, darker and wilder.
Nothing…!
Nothing…!
Nothing…!
Wait…!
In city streets filled with Muggles, the spell stuck out like a sore
thumb. Some sort of powerful binding spell, though it was unlike any
magic I'd sensed before. I didn't know what sort of creature had taken
Potter, but she wasn't human.
Focused only on this spell I stumbled along, hardly taking notice of my
surroundings. Dodging people, cars and lorries, ducking around dustbins,
I kept pace with Mrs. Norris. I didn't realize how far we'd walked until
I realized that we were getting near the river…
In yet another miserable alley, I collapsed next to a building that
seemed to be abandoned and empty. I was dizzy, aching and exhausted, and
there was a terrible stitch in my side.
Mrs. Norris, tireless as ever, yowled at me. She had stopped outside a
small, dark ground level window that appeared to lead into a basement. A
few pieces of glass were still attached to the window frame. When I rose
unsteadily, Mrs. Norris mewed at me and promptly leaped into the
darkness.
Wrapping my coat around my hand and arm, I knocked the glass shards
away, so I could follow her. The window was a tight fit, and I couldn't
see how much of a drop it was.
After a second that felt like an eternity, I landed, crouched, on a
stone floor about six feet below the window. The stench of old, hungry
magic was everywhere in here. It had soaked into the walls, the floor,
the air. The light that was able to penetrate this chamber was grey and
sickly.
Weaving our way through a jumble of broken crates, battered and
discarded bits of furniture, scraps of rags, old clothes and mouldering
newspapers (Wizarding and Muggle,) Mrs. Norris and I followed our
senses. Broken glass crunched under my feet, along with what appeared to
be pieces of bone.
There were voices in the gloom. One that was recognizable as Potter's,
raised in defiance. And another voice that was simultaneously hungry and
affectionate, a disturbing combination.
"Fight me all you like, my child!" the creature crooned. "A strong,
brave spirit gives a meal such a lovely flavor!"
"I'm NOT your child! I'm not anything of yours! Especially not your
dinner!" Potter snapped.
"That's where you're wrong. Breaker of Dark Wizards you might be, but I
am the Greyling, Devourer of Abandoned Children and you're mine now.
You're unwanted, abandoned by your guardian. You're my rightful prey.
But, go on, struggle if you don't believe me! It won't do you any good.
In accordance with the ancient laws, my hold on you is unbreakable."
I called out, answering the creature before Potter could speak.
"The boy is NOT abandoned!" I gasped, stumbling around a pile of moldy
cardboard boxes.
In the sickly light of a another small, broken-glassed window, Potter
and the Grey Woman stood facing each other. The boy's thin body was
tense. The Grey Woman had no visible hold on Potter. But the foul spell
that held him captive felt overpoweringly strong to me at such close
range.
The creature didn't react to what I'd said. But, I could feel the ripple
that passed over her binding spell. It was like a wind across the
surface of a lake.
"You again! Broken Wizard, I should have snapped your neck when I had
the chance," the Grey Woman grumbled. "You're with him?" she hissed,
glowering at Mrs. Norris.
My cat gave her an unblinking, golden stare.
"Mr. Filch…?" Potter's eyes were wide with shock. "What are you doing
here?"
"Hullo, Potter. Nice to see you too," I said, grumpily. "Your Aunt
Petunia sent me to help you."
The boy's green eyes got even wider. "S-She DID?"
Poor Potter. He seemed even more surprised about that than he'd been at
the sight of me. Having met his Aunt, I could understand why.
I nodded at Harry, and then turned to glare at the Devourer. "You know
who this Boy is! Can you truly believe that HE'S unwanted and
abandoned?"
"He's as good as cast off, if you're the best champion that his guardian
could send," the creature said, giving me a toothy smile.
I was unfamiliar with the ancient laws that she'd spoken of, but her
mention of them was reassuring. Laws could be made to work for Potter
and me too. She'd called me the Aunt's champion….
"Petunia Evans Dursley, sister of this boy's mother, sent me to help
him," I repeated.
The Binding Spell rippled again as I spoke, then it started to fray.
Potter had never ceased struggling to be free, and his efforts began to
pay off. The Binding on him began to feel increasingly stretched and
thin.
"Keep away from her, Mr. Filch," Potter shouted. "She's stronger than
she looks!"
I'd already discovered that for myself, thank you very much. I had a
bloody lump on my head to prove it. But someone had to try to keep her
from recapturing him once he got himself free.
As Potter finally snapped the Binding Spell, I tackled the Grey Woman.
"RUN, BOY!" I bellowed, trying to knock her down.
Mrs. Norris came to my aid, spring towards the Devourer's face with a
flash of claws. My sweet one is a fierce fighter; the creature's face
and arms were considerably bloodied before she managed to fling my cat
away from her.
Then the Grey Woman's hands closed around my throat like bands of iron.
She began to squeeze.
"Boy…" I heard her croon over the roar of blood in my ears and the
desperate pounding of my heart. "Brave Harry Potter. Will you abandon
your deliverer to his fate?"
Ineffectually, I clawed at the Grey Woman's hands. I heard Mrs. Norris
yowling. She was probably clawing at the creature's legs, but the Grey
Woman's hold on me remained strong.
"Come to me, Harry Potter. Now. Or I will break the old man's neck." The
Grey Woman's hands never left my throat, never stopped squeezing.
"You can't have him… he's run away, he's safe," I thought as my vision
dissolved into grey fog. I crumpled to my knees, then collapsed to the
floor.
Then I heard Potter's voice. "Let him go!" the boy shouted.
"Gryffindors!" I thought in despair, as the blackness took me.
To Be Continued
Authors' Notes:
Shadowycat: Thank you!! Yes, poor Filch is gaining some uncomfortable
insights into Harry's home-life. -Ozma
Thanks! After reading Ozma's Filch stories, I wanted to see how Argus
would react to the Dursleys. And how the Dursleys would react to Argus.
So I cleverly lassoed Ozma into writing this with me... heh heh -
Jelsemium
Arundel: Thank you!! Ozma & Jelsemium
Rabbit-and-Jinx: Thank you!! Yes, Petunia didn't want to have to explain
anything about the wizarding world to a policeman. It might have been
worse than embarassing, the police might have thought she was a few
sandwiches short of a picnic. -Ozma
Thanks for the review! I hadn't thought about what Vernon's reaction
might be. Might be amusing to see. As for doing a whole chapter without
resolving any cliffhangers... does the phrase: "Yet Another Snape Meets
the Dursleys story" ring a bell? Latest chapter ends with a lot of
screaming? Hasn't been updated since November THIRD?? -Jelsemium
Larania: Thank you!! -Ozma
Hitting the Dursleys is liable to hurt your hand and make it hard for
you to use your computer! Sic your cat on them instead. (And thanks for
the kind review.) -Jelsemium
Mysterious Unsigned Reviewer: Thank you!! I couldn't see Filch attacking
a lady, but Mrs. Norris has no such compunctions. I believe that there's
still some hope for Dudley. He can't help how he was raised. Perhaps
there's a decent person in there somewhere. Yes, Petunia is a horrible
woman, but some of her antipathy for the wizarding world seems
understandable to me. (It's her attitude towards poor Harry that makes
me loathe her.) -Ozma
Thanks for your kind comments. You have a good point about how Petunia's
brushes with bigoted wizards haven't really improved her mindview
towards them. -Jelsemium
Ariana Deralte: Thank you!! The idea that Petunia might consider ALL
wizards `Freaks' is simply too alien a concept for poor Filch's mind to
grasp. He's used to thinking of himself as different and odd, so he
assumed that Petunia meant the term to apply specifically to him.
(There's more of Filch's reaction to how Harry gets treated in later
chapters.) -Ozma
Thanks for the compliments! I thought that we did a good job with
Petunia's pettiness. I suppose that it's only appropriate that reading
our reviewer responses is like getting Christmas presents, since reading
reviews is the same. Thanks for reviewing the story! - Jelsemium
The Amazing Maurice: Thank you!! -Ozma
Thanks! Glad you like this! All your questions will be answered in good
time, Young Grasshopper! - Jelsemium
Three Sickles Short: Thanks!! The idea of Filch criticizing Petunia's
manners was just too delightful for me to resist. -Ozma
Thanks! Yes, I believe Petunia would know a big word like effrontery.
Fits my view of her as being a frustrated Ravenclaw at heart. I think
that being relegated to the role of a mere housewife is one of the
reasons that Petunia is so bitter.) -Jelsemium
Saphron: Thanks!! Ozma & Jelsemium
Spark-Chick: Thanks!! The comparison between Snape and Petunia seemed so
natural. Here's a new chapter!! -Ozma
Thanks! I thought that the spat between Argus and Petunia was inspired.
(I can say that because Ozma wrote it.) -Jelsemium
A. Lee: Thanks!! -Ozma & Jelsemium