Here's the second part already, if you clicked yourself on this page,
that's already a good sign, isn't it?
Well, I think I managed to make less mistakes in this chapter. I'll correct
the first as soon as I find the time.
Reviewers: Thanks for the encouragement!
Enjoy the second part of 'The Bloody Baron':
***
Liz watched the woman walk across the room to her bed. The woman drew back the curtains and gasped in alarm. She turned on her heels and disappeared through the door.
Pressed to the wooden cover of the four-poster, Liz grinned as she heard the woman call someone and order him to "fetch the Headmaster, double- quick! Tell him, she's gone!". Liz now knew, who the woman was. Her brisk voice proved her to be 'Poppy'.
The Headmaster was at the infirmary in no time. At his heels rushed a strict looking woman with glasses and a man dressed all in black with long black hair. Two of the people who'd thrown spells at Liz earlier that day.
Now she began to believe what she saw. This wasn't just some hallucination. The people actually behaved like any other people she knew, once you began to ignore the funny robes and sticks (which were wands).
Of course they'd all come crowding in to see what had happened. Of course they wanted to see why their Headmaster got an urgent message. Anyone only half-human would do exactly that.
"What happened?" The strict looking woman asked with a stern voice, scanning the room.
"I don't know. I left the room with Professor Dumbledore" (Here Liz shook her head disbelievingly: who invented the names of those people, anyway, they were too queer to last!) "and came back after I'd checked some of my potion supplies. When I looked inside the bed, she'd disappeared."
"She's a muggle. She can't have disappeared. She wouldn't even know what an invisibility cloak is." The man in black said jeeringly.
Liz grinned widely. She maybe was a 'muggle', whatever that meant, but she wasn't stupid. Well, stupid enough to step onto a field occupied by a very aggressive bull, but not so stupid as to let some strange and VERY weird people treat her with an 'obliviate' (pointless to say, that she didn't even know, what an 'obliviate' was.).
Just then, something unpleasantly cold touched her back. It moved with uncanny speed to her right, so that she just barely could sense it hovering there. She looked hard, but saw nothing at first. Then, to her utmost horror, something began to form in the air before her.
She was so horrified, she couldn't make a sound or move, she was utterly paralysed. Appearing in front of her was a ghost, and no pleasant looking one at that. Its face was gaunt and unmoving, its eyes cold and impassive, without any compassion in them.
As its contours got clearer, Liz even spotted some splotches of silver on its clothes, which could have been from water -or blood. It was the ghost of a man. She returned his blank and staring gaze with a terror-stricken expression.
So they stared at each other, the ghost and the muggle girl, till he gave her a curt nod in greeting. She was so surprised, that she returned the nod reflexively.
The ghost then slid on, down through the canopy, and was noticed by the people beneath.
"Good afternoon, Baron." Dumbledore greeted him. "Have You by any chance seen a girl in muggle clothes hiding somewhere in the castle?"
Liz held her breath. Would the ghost Baron reveal her hiding place? A short, raspy sound could be heard, like a nail scratching on wood. The professors sighed dejectedly.
If she wouldn't have had to be as quiet as a mouse to hide successfully, Liz would have whooped in joy. The Baron hadn't told them where she was! Dumbledore addressed the other adults:
"Minerva, Severus, Poppy, we have to find her at once. Please remember to keep this incident as quiet as possible. There's no knowing what the ministry will do to her if it finds out. Minerva, alert the other professors, Severus, begin your search in the dungeons. Poppy and I will check the ground floor."
There was a lot of rustling, as the men and women moved in their robes, and then all was silent. A peep over the rim of the canopy informed Liz that the coast was clear and she climbed down to the floor.
***
She was just about to open the door, when an ice cube touched her shoulder. With a low exclamation, she twirled around, ready for anything. -Even the gaunt and impassive face of the Baron.
At least she already 'knew' him. He wasn't yet another NEW feature of this endless freak show. Again he nodded curtly, as if they hadn't seen each other for more than a few minutes.
To humour him, she did the same, still rather uneasy in his presence. She wasn't exactly used to ghosts, and the Baron had a very forbidding air about him. His gaze held no human sentiments she could see and she began to suspect that the spots on his clothes were blood. Not something trivial like water.
He had no wounds indicating that the blood was his. It was much more likely that the blood came from others and that that was the reason why he was a ghost. There had to be some deed of his past that he had to redeem, and which was the reason why he couldn't rest in peace.
She watched the Baron stick his head through the solid door of the infirmary, making her stomach feel somewhat squeamish. He pulled his head back, to look at her while he waved her through. Apparently, there was no one on the other side.
He slid through the door, while Liz first had to open it and then he went straight for a wall in the next room, which was full of shelves. The Baron pointed to one of the boxes labelled 'chocolate' standing on a shelf.
"Good man," murmured Liz, "Knows what a person needs."
She actually was rather astonished that he'd thought of provisions. Ghosts weren't supposed to bother about eating. It was all the more considerate of the Baron to show her where she could get something to eat.
Quickly, there was the possibility that someone came into the room any second, she took down the box and lifted the lid. At least ten bars of chocolate lay inside. Liz took one out and wanted to put the lid back, but was stopped by a ghastly whisper coming from the Baron.
"Take more!" His voice was raspy and toneless.
She didn't object. Somehow the prospect of having a discussion with the Baron didn't appeal to her. She took out four more bars and lifted a questioning eyebrow at him. He nodded, satisfied.
So she put the box back, exactly at the same place where she'd taken it from and stuffed the chocolate bars in her pockets. The Baron was already checking if it was safe for her to open another door.
He waved her on, so the coast was clear. She opened the door silently and followed him inside a corridor.
***
Reviewers: Thanks for the encouragement!
Enjoy the second part of 'The Bloody Baron':
***
Liz watched the woman walk across the room to her bed. The woman drew back the curtains and gasped in alarm. She turned on her heels and disappeared through the door.
Pressed to the wooden cover of the four-poster, Liz grinned as she heard the woman call someone and order him to "fetch the Headmaster, double- quick! Tell him, she's gone!". Liz now knew, who the woman was. Her brisk voice proved her to be 'Poppy'.
The Headmaster was at the infirmary in no time. At his heels rushed a strict looking woman with glasses and a man dressed all in black with long black hair. Two of the people who'd thrown spells at Liz earlier that day.
Now she began to believe what she saw. This wasn't just some hallucination. The people actually behaved like any other people she knew, once you began to ignore the funny robes and sticks (which were wands).
Of course they'd all come crowding in to see what had happened. Of course they wanted to see why their Headmaster got an urgent message. Anyone only half-human would do exactly that.
"What happened?" The strict looking woman asked with a stern voice, scanning the room.
"I don't know. I left the room with Professor Dumbledore" (Here Liz shook her head disbelievingly: who invented the names of those people, anyway, they were too queer to last!) "and came back after I'd checked some of my potion supplies. When I looked inside the bed, she'd disappeared."
"She's a muggle. She can't have disappeared. She wouldn't even know what an invisibility cloak is." The man in black said jeeringly.
Liz grinned widely. She maybe was a 'muggle', whatever that meant, but she wasn't stupid. Well, stupid enough to step onto a field occupied by a very aggressive bull, but not so stupid as to let some strange and VERY weird people treat her with an 'obliviate' (pointless to say, that she didn't even know, what an 'obliviate' was.).
Just then, something unpleasantly cold touched her back. It moved with uncanny speed to her right, so that she just barely could sense it hovering there. She looked hard, but saw nothing at first. Then, to her utmost horror, something began to form in the air before her.
She was so horrified, she couldn't make a sound or move, she was utterly paralysed. Appearing in front of her was a ghost, and no pleasant looking one at that. Its face was gaunt and unmoving, its eyes cold and impassive, without any compassion in them.
As its contours got clearer, Liz even spotted some splotches of silver on its clothes, which could have been from water -or blood. It was the ghost of a man. She returned his blank and staring gaze with a terror-stricken expression.
So they stared at each other, the ghost and the muggle girl, till he gave her a curt nod in greeting. She was so surprised, that she returned the nod reflexively.
The ghost then slid on, down through the canopy, and was noticed by the people beneath.
"Good afternoon, Baron." Dumbledore greeted him. "Have You by any chance seen a girl in muggle clothes hiding somewhere in the castle?"
Liz held her breath. Would the ghost Baron reveal her hiding place? A short, raspy sound could be heard, like a nail scratching on wood. The professors sighed dejectedly.
If she wouldn't have had to be as quiet as a mouse to hide successfully, Liz would have whooped in joy. The Baron hadn't told them where she was! Dumbledore addressed the other adults:
"Minerva, Severus, Poppy, we have to find her at once. Please remember to keep this incident as quiet as possible. There's no knowing what the ministry will do to her if it finds out. Minerva, alert the other professors, Severus, begin your search in the dungeons. Poppy and I will check the ground floor."
There was a lot of rustling, as the men and women moved in their robes, and then all was silent. A peep over the rim of the canopy informed Liz that the coast was clear and she climbed down to the floor.
***
She was just about to open the door, when an ice cube touched her shoulder. With a low exclamation, she twirled around, ready for anything. -Even the gaunt and impassive face of the Baron.
At least she already 'knew' him. He wasn't yet another NEW feature of this endless freak show. Again he nodded curtly, as if they hadn't seen each other for more than a few minutes.
To humour him, she did the same, still rather uneasy in his presence. She wasn't exactly used to ghosts, and the Baron had a very forbidding air about him. His gaze held no human sentiments she could see and she began to suspect that the spots on his clothes were blood. Not something trivial like water.
He had no wounds indicating that the blood was his. It was much more likely that the blood came from others and that that was the reason why he was a ghost. There had to be some deed of his past that he had to redeem, and which was the reason why he couldn't rest in peace.
She watched the Baron stick his head through the solid door of the infirmary, making her stomach feel somewhat squeamish. He pulled his head back, to look at her while he waved her through. Apparently, there was no one on the other side.
He slid through the door, while Liz first had to open it and then he went straight for a wall in the next room, which was full of shelves. The Baron pointed to one of the boxes labelled 'chocolate' standing on a shelf.
"Good man," murmured Liz, "Knows what a person needs."
She actually was rather astonished that he'd thought of provisions. Ghosts weren't supposed to bother about eating. It was all the more considerate of the Baron to show her where she could get something to eat.
Quickly, there was the possibility that someone came into the room any second, she took down the box and lifted the lid. At least ten bars of chocolate lay inside. Liz took one out and wanted to put the lid back, but was stopped by a ghastly whisper coming from the Baron.
"Take more!" His voice was raspy and toneless.
She didn't object. Somehow the prospect of having a discussion with the Baron didn't appeal to her. She took out four more bars and lifted a questioning eyebrow at him. He nodded, satisfied.
So she put the box back, exactly at the same place where she'd taken it from and stuffed the chocolate bars in her pockets. The Baron was already checking if it was safe for her to open another door.
He waved her on, so the coast was clear. She opened the door silently and followed him inside a corridor.
***