Chapter Twenty-Eight
The Cloak of Icarus
Severus arrived at the Ministry with Jennifer on his arm. The two of them looked around to see Harry by the reception desk, smiling at them as they approached.
"There you are. I thought you might have gotten held up. I bribed a goblin clerk in the Archives Department to stay open late because there's something I want you to see," Harry said. Jennifer had been down in the Archives once before a few years ago, grimacing when she remembered that it was in the basement with a large security door to protect against people from removing official papers from the musty room. But when the three of them arrived, Sirius was standing holding the door back with his arms over his chest, while a goblin was scowling at him and threatening to do unpleasant things to his entrails if anything was stolen.
"Take it up with Minister Weasley, Durphbag, Harry asked before we came down here if we could prop the door," Sirius said with a shrug.
"Might I remind you some of these records predate the Ministry, and therefore, as keeper of the archives, I am my own boss. If anything disappears, I am holding all of you and the Minister responsible."
"Fine, you do that," Harry said, heading over to a filing cabinet. Jennifer followed close behind.
"So you're a doorstop now? Moving up in the world, I see," Severus couldn't help but remark.
"You're more than welcome to take over if you want. I'd have used a chair, but everything in Archives is bolted down," Sirius replied.
"Where's Anna?" Severus asked.
"She went to get her file on Lorcan, since she thought it might have been helpful. She said she left it in her room," Sirius explained, and Severus stepped inside.
"Here it is," Harry said.
They had pulled out the drawer of the filing cabinet, which stretched out the entire length of the room. Jennifer stepped over to see what Harry had found. "Lorcan Dougal, born 1969, assumed dead from accidental drowning in 1980," Harry read.
"Wait a minute, what's he doing in the magic family archives? You don't mean he was actually related to the Dougals my father spoke of?" Jennifer asked in surprise.
"I wondered if you had noticed that slip up or not," Harry replied with a grin. "Yesterday, just as Malfoy was kicking us out, he referred to Lorcan as a squib. That's how Lorcan knows so much about our world, and that's why he's gone insane trying to become magical. Isn't it strange how he "died" at eleven, just when he would have been entering secondary school?"
"Anna said that there were also signs he'd been abused as a child. He claimed that his parents turned against him and abandoned him," Sirius said. "Now we know that it was all because he was born a Muggle in a purist wizard family."
"So that's how Lucius knew about him," Jennifer said thoughtfully. "Somehow he knew him because of his family. He must have found out where he was imprisoned and let him out."
"Well, the first time he got out, yes," Harry nodded. "We know whoever orchestrated the first release must have had a bit of influence to get the records changed to look like an accident. We also know that the last time the chest was seen, which is where the cloak probably came from, it was in France, at the same time that your mother, Lorcan, and Malfoy were there. The trouble is, it couldn't have been Malfoy the last time he broke out," Harry said. Jennifer gazed at him questioningly.
"Malfoy was still in Azkaban at that point, and all of the post going to Malfoy was being screened. There's also that incident that happened before Lorcan got out, when someone used an item on Anna that cursed her to fall into Cosmic Sleep. Not only are there no ties to either of Lorcan or Lucius to that particular incident, but I'm not sure whoever did that truly meant to hurt Anna. It appeared to be set up almost as a test rather than an attempt to actually cause her harm. The same can be said of the attempt on your father's life, Jennifer. Whoever did it seemed to do it as a test for you. Also, I am not convinced that Malfoy knew for certain that Lorcan had the cloak. Vallid believed it was the chest that Malfoy was after from the Craw vault, and why would he bother if he knew Lorcan had what was inside of it? Anna thinks that Fudge might have something to do with this. After all, he was the one who sent the chest to France."
"Is there a connection between Lorcan and Fudge as well?" Jennifer asked.
"Maybe, Jennifer. Honestly, I haven't seen Fudge since he came back. He's completely blocked himself off from everyone else, like he's afraid of something, or someone," Harry said. Severus nodded curtly at Harry.
"Yes, I tried to speak with him myself. He refuses to see anyone, especially anyone remotely involved with the Voldemort mess," Severus said. "I don't know, Harry, I doubt a man afraid of his own shadow would be willing to let loose someone who's criminally insane."
"Did you pick up anything from Lucius yesterday, Jennifer?" Harry asked.
"Malfoy's afraid of him," Jennifer said, "Lorcan, I mean, partially because Lorcan has the cloak. Lucius knew about the cloak's existence all along," she growled. "If I read him correctly, he had asked Lorcan for the chest as proof of mother's death, but Lorcan told him it was gone. Lorcan must have taken the chest then, and somehow got my mother to open it before he killed her." Severus gently put his hand on her shoulder.
"Now's not the time to deal with Malfoy, Jennifer. It will come," he said in a low voice.
"Sirius? What's wrong?" Harry asked suddenly, and the other two looked over at him. His face had gone white as a sheet and his eyes had an almost haunted look in them.
"Something's wrong with Anna, I'm sure of it. She should have been back by now," Sirius said.
"You're right, I can see it in your face," Jennifer said with a frown, stepping closer and studying his worried expression. "She's trapped somewhere."
"What? But I thought she was just going to Hogwarts!" Severus snapped, immediately alarmed.
"No, her exact words were she was going to her room," Harry said. "She could have meant her flat."
"Damn it, she knows better than to go somewhere like that without taking someone with her!" Sirius said.
"Sounds familiar," Severus muttered. "Well, don't just stand there, let's go find her. I knew I should have gotten a watch hand for her too."
The four of them dashed out of the office and up the stairs, leaving the goblin to scowl at his open cabinets. He slammed the door closed behind them.
"I think Lorcan has her," Sirius said. "If so, she's in terrible danger."
"He's probably also called his feather friends to help guard," Harry said. "Maybe it's time to fight fire with fire. Jennifer, call Ratfly and get him to round up the Hogwart's Owls, any of them with bands. Sirius, run up and let Arthur and Brown know what's going on and get them to do the same. I'll release Hedwig to try and track down where Lorcan is and she can lead us there on brooms."
"Brooms? Now, wait a minute…"
"Jennifer, you should probably head back to the school," Harry cut off her protest. "You're in no condition to do any of this right now. Your fight is with Malfoy, not Lorcan."
"You really don't think I'm just going to sit at home and wait, do you?" Jennifer asked stubbornly. "You're going to need all the help you can get fighting that cloak. You need an items expert, and I'm it."
"Come now, we don't have time for this, Jennifer. Anna's life is at stake. Just do as your told for once!" Sirius snapped.
"If Severus says I should stay, I'll stay," Jennifer said as they paused in the hallway. Severus blinked at her thoughtfully.
"I think you should stay," Severus admitted.
"Fine, I'll stay," Jennifer said flatly, sitting down near the reception desk. "Don't worry, I'll make sure the Owls are there."
"Thanks, Jennifer," Harry said with a nod, heading down the corridor with Sirius close behind. But as Jennifer propped her head up in one hand and watched them go, Severus stopped a few yards away, breathing a heavy sigh; his shoulders and head slumping before he spun around with an irritated look on his face.
"Come on."
"What?"
"Come on, no time to argue, we can ride double. Just promise me that you'll return to the castle if we're separated," Severus said.
"Deal," Jennifer grinned, slowly getting back up. The two of them then hurried down the corridor to catch up with the others.
They had been waiting for Anna when she arrived. Birds of every kind fluttered through the apartment, somehow managing to have gotten a window open, several of them immediately startling as she Apparated in. Realizing her immediate danger, she had planned to grab her files and go, but it had been too late. As she turned to grab the papers and leave, something hit the back of her foot and a blinding light surged around her.
Anna rubbed at her eyes, squinting and attempting to get used to the light. She appeared to be inside something, she realized, trapped like a genie in a bottle. As the light around her subsided into a white haze, she realized she was in some sort of globe. A shadow fell over her and she watched as a distorted hand came down to grab the globe she was in. She felt herself being lifted up and a gigantic, bloodshot eye appeared.
"At last, at last I have you, the carrier of faerie light, the Essence I have sought for so many years! Did I not say when we first met that I would possess you?" Lorcan gloated, his voice echoing strangely through the globe. "I knew they could not protect you forever, not that they didn't try, oh yes, they tried. When I sent the ring to drain your will, they attempted to stop me… I almost had them then, but alas, the servant I chose was too weak."
"You sent the dragon?" Anna asked.
"Yes, it was I, but dragons are difficult to control in numbers, else perhaps I would have gotten you sooner. But now I have at last acquired enough power to defeat even the greatest of wizards in the world," he laughed. "Soon they will all pay for what they've done! And they will all see what it is like to go without magic!"
The light suddenly flashed, and when Anna's vision cleared, she realized they were outside somewhere, but where exactly she could not tell. The blurry blue sky was darkening as if clouds were gathering, and the white haze began to dim. Long spears of shadow moved across the globe, and there was a strange, oblong reflection. Then, Lorcan began to chant something that she didn't understand.
Jennifer pushed Severus' cloak out of the way so that she could spot Hedwig, flying in front of them. They had gone quite a ways to the southwest, and Jennifer couldn't help but get the feeling that that was terribly significant somehow. But when she saw the cloud of birds that had gathered above the downs past Amesbury, her heart sunk.
"What in blazes does he think he's doing?" Jennifer shouted.
"I'm sure we'll find out in a moment," Severus replied, shooting the broom ahead of Hedwig. Sirius and Harry also jumped forward, for there was no doubt where he was going to now. "We should go ahead and land," he barked at the others. "It'd be foolish to stay up here considering his command over birds, despite the fact we'll be easily spotted on the ground," he said, then landed.
"We'll see about that," Harry replied after he dismounted and pulled out his other cloak from underneath his regular one.
Taking his lead, Sirius put his broom away and changed into a dog. Rummaging in their cloaks, Severus and Jennifer pulled out Chameleon Powder and dusted themselves with it generously.
"Let's just hope it doesn't rain this time," Severus muttered as he began to blend into the background. Jennifer found his hand and the two of them crept forward, just behind the dog, who padded quietly over towards Stonehenge.
The birds above Stonehenge dove in a crazed pattern, their squawking and shrieking growing louder as they approached. There, standing in the center of the inner circle, was Lorcan with a Tome in one hand and a shining Globe in the other, muttering an incantation from the pages. The Tome glowed brighter with every spoken word, his cloak flapping with power from the energy coming from the book.
But before they could come closer, a figure Apparated just outside the ring, wand out and ready, pointing directly at Lorcan. It was Cornelius Fudge.
"Give me the girl, Lorcan!" Fudge shouted, trying to keep his wand steady. "If you don't hand me the Globe and the Tome now, I will kill you where you stand!" Lorcan turned and began to laugh.
"You have no power to hurt me, wizard, not here. And soon, not anywhere! The magic that leaked into this world and poisoned it with its evil shall now cease forever! No one can stop it now!" Lorcan raised his arm and a bright ray of sunlight appeared from beneath the cloak. The birds overhead suddenly dove towards Fudge and he rolled to the ground, covering his head as they came at him.
"We have to do something to help Fudge!" Jennifer said.
"We have more to worry about than just Fudge," Severus snapped. "He's trying to open a gate to unleash the Ancient Magic of Stonehenge itself. If it causes the Otherworld's magic to collide with ours unexpectedly, magic as we know it will cease to exist!"
"But unleashing that sort of power would disintegrate him… and anything he's holding!" Harry warned them from somewhere nearby.
"Nobody use their wand! The incantation is already active and the result might be catastrophic," Severus ordered.
"Then what are we going to do?" Jennifer asked.
Sirius suddenly burst into a run before anyone could stop him and into the center of the ring, launching himself at Lorcan and closing his jaw around the Globe in his hand, growling and trying to wrench it away.
"Sirius! Be careful, for goodness sake, don't drop it!" Jennifer's voice cried out as she ran forward, her footsteps appearing in the snow.
"Get away! Get away, beast! Help me! Help me, my friends!" Lorcan cried out, and the flyers stopped diving at Fudge and turned their attention to the dog.
But Sirius wasn't about to let go of the Globe and a struggle ensued, causing Lorcan to drop the Tome. Pages turned erratically and a burst of light streaked out with every passing page.
As Jennifer made a dash for it, she saw a large shadow above her and froze as a large Hippogriff passed closely overhead. Its talons reached out and grabbed a hold of Sirius, who yapped loudly in surprise. It was too late… the Hippogriff carried him away as Lorcan wrenched his bloodied hand back, still grasping the precious Globe within it. He heard voices crying out Sirius' name, and became aware and angered by the invisible presences trying to stop him.
"How dare you…try…to…stop…me! You will die for your insolence, and it will be far from painless," he hissed. He licked the blood off his hand, his lips turning as red as his eyes. He raised up his arms, calling all of his minions to him as the blinding light beneath the cloak grew stronger than ever before. "Find them! Find them and destroy them all!" his voice cried out in a frenzied fury.
The rest of the swarm came down, diving in every direction as Jennifer knelt in an attempt to get lower to the ground. But the snow touched her robes now, and as the chameleon dust began to wear thin, parts of her began to reappear, making her an easy target. Hands suddenly came up around her and she looked up to see Severus and Harry standing there, Severus with a potion in hand, launching it towards Lorcan. But again, there were too many creatures aiding him. A large dark creature flew in front of the bottle, taking the full brunt of the Sleeping Potion.
"Ruby!" Jennifer shouted in anguish as the Pegasus stumbled and fell to the ground at the base of one of the monoliths. Severus grabbed Jennifer's arm and the three of them took refuge behind a pair of broken stones, he and Harry holding the side of their cloaks out like a shield.
"Kill them!" Lorcan ordered, the light growing even brighter.
Snow began to melt at his feet as a wave of heat followed. But just as they were blinded by the light, many of the birds were blinded as well. They veered away to keep from crashing into the ground, their shrieking cries pitiful as they attempted to follow out their order.
"Something is wrong," Jennifer warned them.
"Oh, now there's the understatement of the year," Harry said, trying to get his sight to readjust.
"No, I mean with the cloak! Something's not right, it shouldn't be getting so hot," Jennifer said. A pair of wings hit Severus in the shoulder and he was about to fling it away when he suddenly recognized him.
"Ratfly's here, help must be on the way," Severus told them.
"Look!" Harry called out and the three of them looked up.
Above the brilliant figure of Lorcan, they spotted a bird even more dazzling than the cloak as it dove through the cloud of flyers that dodged out of its path like peasants before a king. Fawkes dove sharply, plucking the Globe from Lorcan's hands.
As if that had been a signal, the birds began to fight with each other, filling the sky with a battle like no one had ever seen before. Lorcan turned his attention to the skies, crying out orders to destroy the Phoenix at all costs. He spread the cloak out to its fullest, the stark sunlight growing even brighter and hotter than before.
"Lorcan, stop! The cloak is overloading!" Jennifer called out. Lorcan, obsessed with his growing power and his quest for destruction, either did not hear her or did not wish to hear her.
"We need to get out of here," Harry said. "Quick, grab the Tome and let's retreat!"
"I don't see it," Severus replied. "It's not where I saw it drop!"
"Where's Fudge?" Jennifer asked at the same time.
"No time, get down!" Harry shouted.
"Destroy them! Destroy them all! We must prevail, we must prevail!" Lorcan cried out.
But his cry turned into excruciating pain as the heat became unbearable. It was so hot that it melted the cloak and released its power in a sudden burst that spread over the area like a bomb.
Instantly the noise stopped.
Clearing his eyes, Harry slowly looked up at the sky.
The birds that had been fighting a moment before were quickly dispersing, while a fleet of owls wearing sparkling talon bands began to gather on the monoliths around the three figures, looking expectantly at them.
"It's all right. I think he's gone now, and the cloak with him," Harry said. Jennifer and Severus looked up. "I only hope Sirius made it."
"We will go look for him," Severus replied, helping Jennifer up and pushing her hair gently back from her burnt face. "You had best find Dumbledore so that you can help him get Anna out of that Globe safe and sound."
"Of course," Jennifer said softly, nodding to him. "To think what Lorcan might have done to all of us, and for what?"
"Sometimes pain can drive people to do things they wouldn't normally do," Severus said in such a tone that Jennifer gazed at him, nodding at what she read in his expression.