Chapter Twenty-Four

The Flight

Severus checked the stirrups for the tenth time in five minutes, and Jennifer's patience finally began to run out, folding her arms and tapping her foot as Ruby moved her head to peer back over at the wizard.

"Are you quite finished? Goodness, Severus, if you have that saddle on any tighter, I wouldn't blame Ruby for kicking you. I'm not going to fall off. And I am wearing my barrette," Jennifer protested. At the reminder he went over to tug on her barrette, earning an exclamation from his wife, who loosened it slightly.

"I'm not going to let you go along if you keep this up. You're not going to take any unnecessary chances," Severus said firmly.

"Severus, please. You're being totally unreasonable," Jennifer clucked at him. "I thought you said you trusted me to take care of myself," she said, somehow managing to work her way past him and onto her Pegasus.

"I do, normally, but things are different now," Severus said grumpily, getting on Babe.

"I love you too," Jennifer grinned at him, as she took hold of the reins and coaxed Ruby up.

Severus and Babe lifted off close behind and came up beside them as they rose above the castle, winding around the parapets on their way towards the lake. The bright sun helped warm an otherwise icebound day, the snow taking on a glassy sheen as bits of it began to melt under the brilliant light.

Jennifer saw no signs of birds of any kind as they slowed around the train station, and she couldn't help but wonder at that. Usually on any given day, Hogwarts Owls perch on the rooftops and lounge about, but today the emptiness seemed almost alarming. Even that early in the afternoon she would have expected to see one or two. If that hadn't been odd enough, the same was true directly over the forest; there was not a bird in sight. It became pretty apparent as they flew towards the mountainside of the castle grounds that their chances of find Rolanda using this method were going to be next to none.

Leading the way, Severus veered Babe around the leeside of the mountain and Jennifer followed close behind. But Ruby wasn't responding well to the reins, and Jennifer found herself wondering at the sudden reluctance. She hadn't had trouble with Ruby since Hagrid first taught her how to ride four years ago. What could be bothering her?

Just as Jennifer began trying to coax her with words, Ruby neighed in protest, pulling up and turning her head left and right erratically. Severus spun Babe around to try to help, but just as he made the turn, Babe began to struggle and kick the air as if trying to throw him off his back.

Jennifer called out his name worriedly, but she barely had time to react as her own mount launched higher into the air, making Jennifer cling to the reins, desperately wrapping them around her wrists just as Ruby went into a dive heading straight towards the mountain. Crying out in surprise, Jennifer tried to hunch down in the saddle as low as she could as Ruby did a barrel-roll, leaving Jennifer momentarily off the seat of the saddle. The Pegasus then came back around at a speed that Jennifer hadn't even realized Ruby was capable of. Pleading with Ruby to stop as they went into another spin, Jennifer instinctively closed her eyes, preparing for the worst. But Ruby wasn't about to crash. Instead, she bolted in a zigzag pattern, flying towards a large dark cloud on the horizon.

When Jennifer braved another look, she noticed that something was very odd about that cloud, and it didn't take long to figure out what it was. The cloud was not a cloud at all, but a swarm. There were birds and winged beasts of nearly every sort she could think of, coatls and flying cats, owls, bats, ravens, and even a baby dragon all soared around her, swooping over her head unnervingly close. Ruby dove until she passed through the swarm, and Jennifer could now see that they were in a wooded area in the low-lying hills. Here the air was still, but the noise of squawking and screeching above them loudly.

When Ruby landed in a small glen, all of the birds keeping their distance above. Every time one flew overhead, it seemed to peer directly at them, and Jennifer wondered if there was any way of truly finding Rolanda in this mess.

Slowly Jennifer dismounted and Ruby suddenly took the sky. Jennifer glanced around warily, focusing in on another figure standing a few yards away from her. It was a man wearing the oddest cloak she had ever seen. It appeared to be made of dragon wing webbing, and it was covered with collection of feathers and wings of various types that were arranged to form a colorful yet gaudy pattern. A hood was pulled over the man's head and she could not clearly see his face.

Jennifer cautiously tried to slip her hand in her cloak to pull out a phial. A sparrow broke off from the group and swooped at her hand, causing her to pull it back.

"So it's you! Yes, it really is. You look like your mother, except the hair," the cloaked figure said in an almost a wistful tone. "Have you come to help me?"

"Help you?" Jennifer repeated in surprise. "What are you talking about? Who are you? Remove your hood!"
"Ah, you do not know me, perhaps, but you will, yes, you will. After all, you owe me your life," the man cackled in a way that caused a chill down Jennifer's spine. "If it wasn't for me, you'd be dead by now, yes long dead, and our common enemy would have long been victorious."

"Common enemy?" Jennifer asked, glancing up warily at the birds. Somehow she needed to find a way to get his hood down without setting them off.

"Yes, the Wizard Lucius Malfoy," he hissed, and Jennifer focused on him again. "He wanted you dead once. I imagine he does still. He would want me dead too, I think, if he knew I was here," the figure giggled. "You will help me get even with him, as a partial payment for what you owe me. And you will help bring me the Light, yes, and I will reward you handsomely."

"I don't know who you are, but I decide what I owe and to whom. Anyone capable of such abominable acts as trying to control the flyers for their own gain is not someone I call a friend," Jennifer said defiantly. He broke into laughter.

"You wish to be my enemy as well?" the man asked, but his voice sounded no less pleased at the prospect as he took a step forward. "Know this then, Alice's daughter, that this gift of mine came from your mother's own hand," he said, a mocking smile peeking below the hood. "But if an enemy of mine you wish to be, then I shall take back what you owe me… your life!" he said, flinging up his arms. A burst of light resembling sunlight came pouring out as the cloak opened, and Jennifer noticed a change in the tone in the cries of the flying creatures as if they had suddenly grown angry, their eyes flashing as they looked down at her. Quickly she pulled out her wand and pointed at him, growling in aggravation when the spell she had intoned fizzled out. "You know, I've never killed a witch with child before," he admitted excitedly. "It'll be an honor harvesting your powers after your demise."

"Touch her and it'll be the last thing you ever do," a familiar voice snarled above the birds' calls. Jennifer looked up to see Severus on his broom with his wand pointed at the cloaked man, his face both furious and calm at the same time.

"You again," the man snarled. "How dare you threaten me? Do you think your magic can possibly stop me? Well, think again! This will be the last time you thwart me!"

"Stupefy!" Severus cast.

Just then, a volley of birds came around him. One of them knocked his wand out of his hand just as the spell went off, causing him to miss his target and hit one of the hippogriffs, which fell helplessly to the ground.

"Severus!" Jennifer quickly took out a bottle and threw it towards the figure. The figure twisted one of the rings on his hand and Disapperated with a *pop*! The phial broke, dumping Sleepsand into the air and several birds in the area dropped into the dust. In response, the cloud of birds began to grow more agitated, the noise getting louder and louder until it was almost deafening. As Jennifer was scrambling for another phial, a hand came around her waist from behind and she found herself getting pulled onto a broom.

"Put that thing down! We're getting out of here," Severus snapped, picking up his wand. Jennifer threw the phial and another puff of smoke appeared as it released a petrifying gas into the air. Another wave of birds hit the ground. "I didn't mean like that!" Severus yelled, throwing his hood up and pushing the broom forward, trying almost fruitlessly to keep the angry birds from attacking his face.

Clinging onto Severus on the back of his broom, Jennifer was vaguely aware that the man had not teleported far, and stood at the edge of the glen. He was being attacked mercilessly by a lone falcon, which dove at him angrily as if trying to get him to stop the attack.

"Severus! Severus wait, it's Rolanda!"

"Where? I can't tell anything in this mess!" he said, leaning back to try and look to where she was pointing.

"Right there, right by the bastard trying to kill us!" Jennifer shouted.

Severus dove straight down, ignoring Jennifer's surprised wail as he twisted around in a tight curve straight towards the cloaked figure. The man looked up in surprise, the light dimming from beneath the cloak as he did so. The man dropped to the ground as Severus flew over his head and snatched the falcon right out of the sky. Quickly handing the falcon to Jennifer, Severus darted in between the trees at such a rapid pace that Jennifer couldn't bear watching anymore, burying her face in his back with one arm around him and one around the struggling bird. Her stomach was churning before they finally lifted back out of the trees, only to break into an even faster speed and a steep climb as he pointed the broom towards the silhouette of the mountains.

"Jennifer! Look behind us and see what managed to follow!" Severus yelled, not taking his eyes off the approaching mountains. Jennifer shuddered then took a quick look back.

"There's still some behind us," she answered.

"Just birds?" Severus asked, "Nothing bigger?" Jennifer then realized why Severus had taken to the trees. There was no way that the hippogriffs or other large flyers could have followed them in like that.

"Just birds," Jennifer agreed, and then realized that the falcon had stopped struggling. "It's all right, Rolanda, we're almost home," she said, peering over Severus' shoulder just in time to see him skirt between a narrow gap between two mountains.

Feeling her heart leap in her throat, Jennifer gritted her teeth and closed her eyes again. For several long seconds, she found herself counting her thumping heartbeats until she felt them going to a dive. Braving a glance, she felt a wave of relief as she saw they were near the castle, although coming uncomfortably close to the wall. Severus pulled up easily on the broom until they slowed down, landing behind the parapet near the Owlery. The moment their feet touched, Jennifer scrambled off and laid down, the falcon hopping over and sitting tiredly on the parapet.

"I never, and I mean never, want to get on another broom for as long as I live," Jennifer stated.

"Was that just criticism about my flying?" Severus wanted to know, wiping blood off his face with a cloth from his pocket. "I'd like to have seen you do any better. And another thing, that's the last time I let you talk me into taking the Pegasi on patrol. From now on, we'll walk!" Jennifer grinned at his serious face and nodded.

"We'd better get Rolanda down to the hospital wing," Jennifer said, and Severus helped her up.

"And us," Severus agreed, wiping her bloody cheek with the cloth.

"We should probably drop Dumbledore a note saying that we found her," Jennifer said.

"How?" Severus asked, opening the door into the tower. "I don't know about you, but the last thing I want to see right now is a bird." The falcon squawked enthusiastically and bobbed her head, almost as if agreeing with them.

Dumbledore was quick to find out that Rolanda had indeed been rescued, so it was not long after she had managed to turn back into her human form and Severus and Jennifer were patched up that he made his way down to the hospital wing.

"You probably could have made a good Seeker in your day, Severus," Rolanda was saying cheerfully. "Too bad you got kicked off the team. You've turned into an excellent flyer."

Severus nodded suspiciously at the complements, but Jennifer smiled softly, knowing that being nice to him was Rolanda's attempt at a thank you.

"You got kicked off the team?" Jennifer inquired. "You never even told me you were on it."

"Briefly," Severus said in a tone that let Jennifer know he really didn't want to talk about it.

"He got into a magic fight in the middle of the game with a player from the Gryffindor team, who got kicked off too, by the way," Rolanda told Jennifer.

"Oh, no."

"Oh, yes," Rolanda said amused. "But don't worry, Severus, I doubt Sirius still holds that against you."

"Oh dear, let's not start that again," Dumbledore said as he walked into the room, smiling at Poppy. "How are they?"

"They'll live," Poppy winked at him. "I'd like to keep Rolanda here for another day or two to make sure she's completely recovered from the charm."

"Poppy! I'm fine, don't do this to me, you know I hate standing still!" Rolanda said with a scowl.

"Now, now, Rolanda, you've been through a very trying ordeal. It'll do you good to relax for a day or two before classes resume," Dumbledore said, sitting beside her bed. "I can't even begin to tell you how glad I am that you are back safe and sound."

"Thanks, Professor. I only wish I could remember some of what happened while I was in falcon form," Rolanda said. "Right now, all I remember is leaving and then coming back to find myself riding on a broom with these two."

"Give it some time," he said, giving her a reassuring smile and a pat on the arm. "Just promise me you won't try to change forms again until we get to the bottom of all of this."

"Oh, you can definitely count on that," Rolanda grinned.

"So, what about you two? What did you find out?" Dumbledore asked them.

"We found out he can control Pegasi and other large flyers," Severus said dryly.

"I didn't get much from him. He had his face covered the entire time, and he was wearing a cloak made up of many different types of feathers," Jennifer said. "That cloak seems to be what's controlling them. And another thing, he said he knew my mother," she said. A momentary look of concern crossed Dumbledore's face but he quickly hid it. "But I've never heard his voice before. He said the cloak came from her, but I don't see how that could be. If only his face hadn't been covered," Jennifer sighed.

"Jennifer, have you ever seen your mother with such a cloak?" Dumbledore asked.

"No, I think I would have remembered it," Jennifer said. "I certainly don't think if she had such a thing that she'd give it away."

"Most decidedly not," Dumbledore agreed. "For if I am not mistaken, there was a legend surrounding a cloak such as what you described, and it was created not long after this school was formed. It was a gift presented by Salazar to one of Ravenclaw's apprentices when he became a full wizard. It had been thought to have been buried with him at the time of his death."

"Oh, no," Jennifer groaned as realization set in. "That could mean only one thing."

"Yes," Dumbledore said with a nod. "The cloak belonged to Icarus."

"A cloak of feathers, how appropriate," Severus said dryly. "Icarus had his wings."

"We had better clip them soon," Rolanda said tiredly, "before anyone else gets burnt."