Alastor and the WUTS

Out of the curtain of mist came the emerald light, set high above him on what
appeared to be a wooden mast. As it steadily approached, Tom realized an
enormous ship was sailing eerily towards him. Its ghostlike sails billowed in the chill
breeze that stirred in the lofty cavern. At first, it appeared to be abandoned, though
as it drew nearer to where he was floating, Tom could see a man around his age
gripping the old wheel. He spotted Tom and turned the wheel towards his direction.
"Ahoy down there!" called the man excitedly. "Are you alive?"
"Yes!" called Tom from where he waited impatiently. "Will you hurry up?
Your ship is slower than an old hag."
"No need to be rude," he said, sounding hurt. "I'm going as fast as this baby
goes. Yep, she's a nice one. Used to be me dad's. She's about a hundred years old
but she manages to do a hell of a job."
"I'm drowning over here!" shouted Tom annoyed.
"Don't be stupid," laughed the man. "Ye can't drown in quan."
"Fine, just hurry up!" he yelled. He was really starting to get angry.
The sleek wooden vessel pulled up along side Tom and he noticed carved on
one side were the letters "WUTS".
"What does that stand for?" called Tom to the man, as he began climbing up
a tattered ladder towards the ship's main deck.
"Wizard Underground Transportation System of course. Haven't you ever
heard of it before?" asked the man in amazement.
"No, never," said Tom dully, trying to hide his vivid interest because of his
annoyance at the man for taking so long to rescue him.
From behind the wheel, the man looked disappointed. He handed Tom a slice
of bread, and muttered,
"You'd better get some rest. We won't arrive at the next settlement until
tomorrow."
Now that he was on board, he took some time to look around the ship. Apart
from the bright green lantern on the mast, the ship was dimly lit by several magical
candles that weren't extinguished by the constant waves of air that rustled the sails.
The man by the wheel was wearing a shabby grey cloak and what appeared to be a
muggle sailor's hat over a mess of black curls. He was humming a tune to himself as
he swayed back and forth with the ship.
"What's your name?" asked Tom, interrupting him, feeling it was about time
to meet his new companion.
"Alastor," called the man, his back still turned toward Tom. "And yours?"
"Tom," he said, feeling his attempt at a conversation was not succeeding.
"Uh, sorry for being so rude before," he added. This made his insides groan. Had he
just apologized to someone? This wasn't Tom speaking; he would never have
admitted to being wrong. He forced himself to believe he had done it for his own
personal gain, rather than out of kindness.
"Don't worry about it," said Alastor, but Tom could sense that a lot of the
hostile attitude from before was gone.
"So what is the Wizard Underground Transportation System anyway?" asked
Tom.
"Well apart from me-self, there are hundreds of other ships that travel down
the Quan River…"
"Quan?" interrupted Tom.
"It's the magical liquid down there," he said, gazing into the darkness. "It
doesn't make you wet, and as long as you're alive, you can't sink in it."
"What about all the dead bodies at the bottom? I saw them when I fell in," he
said.
"Oh, those. Well those were the muggles unlucky enough to get mixed up
with dark wizards during the revolts of the middle ages. This river was an unofficial
burial ground for those who died during the resistance against wizard control," said
Alastor in a hushed voice.
"But what is it used for now?" asked Tom, not interested in receiving a
history lesson.
"Well now it's used as a transportation system to carry wizards all around
Europe. These caves run all the way down to Africa I believe. Of course, we
constantly are placing muggle repelling charms on them to keep them away."
"And how long have you been doing this?" said Tom.
"Around three years I think," he said. " It's hard to keep track of time down
here on the underground. The only sunlight comes in through tunnels dug in the
cities.
Tom stood up and began to walk around the deck. There was a rickety flight
of steps leading underneath the ship to several rotted doors. On the far side of the
main deck was a large mural of three very attractive mermaids. They seemed bored,
because they continued swimming aimlessly. Although once every few minutes they
would stop and wave at him, giggling.
"Is there anyone else on board?" asked Tom.
"As a matter of fact," called Alastor from up front, "Most of the passengers
got off the day I found you. I had to stop somewhere to get some more food for
storage. The only on board besides you is a young witch I picked up a week ago near
Bulgaria. She's been in her room mostly; I don't think I've heard her say anything
since she came on."
"What's her name?" said Tom.
"I don't know, to tell you the truth. I doubt she speaks English," he said.
They both remained quiet for some time and Tom fell asleep for a few hours.
He was woken out of his rest by a dense black cloud that attacked the ship. His eyes
opened to see Alastor sending jinxes everywhere trying to lose the dark mass he
realized was a group of vampire bats. Once he had gotten rid of them, Tom settled
back into a deep sleep until he was woken again, though this time not by a swarm of
angry bats.
"Wake up," whispered Alastor shaking him violently.
"Get off me!" yelled Tom; angry he had been woken from dreaming about
torturing mudbloods. "What is it?"
"The girl's up," he said. "Go see if you can talk to her."
Tom walked sleepily over to a young woman sitting in the far corner. Her
skin was pale, and her dark hair a mess. She was nearly his age, maybe a few years
younger, but he noticed she was extremely beautiful nonetheless. He sat down beside
her and waited for something to happen. He had never attempted to make friends
before. At Hogwarts he was usually alone, with the exception of the few Slytherin
students who idolized him.
"Hello," he muttered under his breath.
The witch made no reply.
"My name is Tom, what's yours?" he said. Why was he being so nice?
She was still silent.
"Well I guess I'll be going…" he began.
"No!" she burst out loudly grabbing him. "I mean, no, please stay. My name
is Minka Petrovia."
She turned to look at him. He could tell she had been crying; tear stains
covered her face, and her cheeks flushed. Her features were smooth and round,
though in her eyes he saw himself reflected; malice and ambition, but also sadness
and longing. They stared at each other for several minutes. Neither of them spoke,
and the only sound was Alastor's whistling.
A strange rumble began to stir in the quan. At first everyone ignored the
ominous sounds, but soon, quan was flapping violently against the wooden vessel,
shaking it from side to side. The passengers looked nervously at one another,
wondering what about to happen. Their worst nightmares would soon become
reality.
Out of the quan came an enormous sea snake, shattering the silence like
bullets on glass. Its silver scales reflecting the torch flames into their eyes, blinding
them temporarily. With immense speed, the serpent shot its fangs at the ship, tearing
off the wooden planks and crushing them to pulp. Minka screamed as the snake
swam towards the ship once again splashing waves of silver quan onto the deck.
Swaying back and forth with the ship, Tom and Minka gripped each other tightly as
Alastor shot stunning spells at it. Then Tom realized how foolish he'd been. It must
have been Minka that had distracted him at the moment, but now his mind was clear
again. How could he have forgotten his gift of talking to snakes? He let go of Minka
and ran to the deck gazing into the dark eyes of the monster. He pursed his lips and
let out a low hiss that echoed off the walls of the chamber. In an instant the cavern
was silent. The snake paused in its tracks staring at the pathetic creature that stood in
front of him with newborn fear.
"Stop!" hissed Tom. Now his eyes turned cold once more, and his
kind benevolent nature was swept away. "What do you want?"
Only Tom and the beast could understand Parsletongue; Minka and Alastor
heard only hissing.
"Who are you which speaks the tongue of the old ones?" hissed the snake.
"I am your master!" said Tom, "And you will obey me!"
"I am at your command master," it hissed. "You are my creator."
Tom paused for a moment, enjoying his power over such a monstrous beast.
He didn't want Alastor and Minka to know that he could control it so easily. There
was something he liked about Minka. As soon as they had met, a deep love for her
had been born within him. He wanted to impress her, make her look up to him. He
had an idea…he was going to make her think he had killed the snake himself.
"I command you with my power," he began, "to…pretend as if I have
slaughtered you."
"Why would you want me to do that?" it asked suspiciously.
"Do not question your master," hissed Tom. "When you see the sparks, fake
your death and swim away."
The monster nodded as Tom drew his wand. He hoped his shipmates would
fall for his fake act of bravery. He made up a spell off the top of his head, and shot
sparks into the darkness. The serpent let out a painful screech and dived into the
quan, swimming out of sight. Tom returned to his fellow passengers and saw they
were staring at him with mixed fear and admiration.
"Where did you learn to talk to snakes?" said Alastor curiously.
"I've just known how my entire life," said Tom, his eyes still on Minka.
"That vos amazing," she said softly taking his hand.
Her skin was soft, and she ran her finger up and down his arm comfortingly.
This seemed to get Tom back into his calm stage. There was something about Minka
that made him feel awkward. Maybe it was that he had never been comforted before.
His mother had died giving birth to him, and his father had abandoned him as an
infant. He held her hand in his, affectionately.
"Well, we'd better keep going if we intend on reaching the city by tomorrow,"
snapped Alastor, obviously not wanting to get involved with their romance. He
walked back across the deck toward the section that had been bitten off. "Auculus
Reparo," he muttered as the wooden planks rose from the river and reformed the
side of the vessel.
They continued their journey down the dark, lifeless tunnel. Tom was
delighted that Minka had now decided he was worth talking to.
"Vel I'm only seventeen so I should still be in school. I vent to Durmstrang
School of Magic until my mother died. Then I just couldn't keep going. I felt like a
part of me had been torn avay. I decided to disappear to the underground until I
decided vot to do," she said, trying hard to hold back the tears.
"I'm really sorry," said Tom softly to her. "My parents are dead too, and I
don't know where I'm going to go from here." He paused for a moment
remembering the ancient book he still had. Maybe Minka would be interested in
going with him. Of course he could not allow her to ruin his plans, but some
company on his trip, wherever he would be going, would be better than loneliness.
They both continued talking to one another. Minka was very sweet but he had a
feeling there was still many things about her she was keeping secret. She and Alastor
had sung a few songs while Tom sat listening. He had never been a cheerful person,
and he didn't want to start now. He took time to lean over the railing and watch the
quan spin mysteriously below, hiding from view the secrets it held in its depths.
Eventually they all fell asleep, even Alastor whose snores could be heard throughout
the tunnel. After several hours he was awakened by Alastor's growl of a voice. He
was pointing at something in the distance excitedly.