A/N: Just to clarify, the spell Wormtail used at the end of Chapter 2 was called the Magic Mirror charm-it lets you see a certain person or thing wherever they go, and also lets you hear what's going on around the object or person (Think Belle's mirror on Disney's Beauty and the Beast). Wormtail cast it on the house-elf so that he could make sure that the house- elf didn't tell anyone that there was a stranger in the kitchens or anything.

Also, sorry this has taken awhile to get uploaded but I've been really busy. But it is within a week! :)

Thanks to AgiVega and Elizabeth for reviewing!

Now, finally, on to Chapter 3. Read and review! Enjoy!







Voldemort's Worst Scandal





Chapter Three



Imperio



The poor, frightened house-elf shivered as he made his way through the deserted castle corridors looking for a student. He wanted to cry, but he knew that the strange man who had threatened him would see through the cooking pan, so he held the tears back and just kept on walking. He tried to put on a face that would imply that he was being courageous and stubborn. Sooner or later, he reminded himself, dinner will be over and then I'll have to go back to the kitchens, so that no others will see me. House-elves should never be seen-that was their first rule. The only one to break it was that fool Dobby, always running around in his strange clothes, mismatched socks, demanding pay. That was frightening enough in itself.

As he rounded a corner, the house-elf was startled as he ran into a male student carrying a camera. He looked like an older student, probably fourteen or fifteen at the most. His hair was askew and he was panting, taking deep, heaving breaths, and his camera was swinging wildly around his neck. As the impact of running into the small house-elf hit him, he knocked the house-elf over, tripped on him, accidentally hit the button on his camera that made pictures, making the camera go off in the poor house- elf's face, then the boy flew into the air, landed with a thump, and skidded into the far wall. He lay there motionless.

The house-elf quickly got down on his knees and apologized, as it was in his nature to do so.

"Oh, sir! I'm so, so sorry! I never meant to run into you, sir! Please forgive me!" he wailed, pounding his tiny, grubby fists on the cold ground. He watched through one open eye as the student rolled over painstakingly away from the wall and moaned. Then he sat straight up, with a bit less effort.

"Are you a house-elf?" the boy asked curiously. He made no reference to the accident that had just occurred, and therefore neither forgave the house-elf nor held a grudge. (So the house-elf, naturally, assumed that the student was angry with him.)

"Yes, my kind sir, I am a house-elf, a most humble house-elf, and if there's anything I can do for you-" the house-elf blurted out, only to be cut off in mid-sentence by the strange boy.

"I've never actually seen a house-elf before, only in pictures. But I knew there were some in the castle. Can I take your picture?" the student seemed eager and clutched his camera tightly in his hand as he jumped up onto his feet. "I'm Colin, by the way, Colin Creevy."

The house-elf had no idea what to make of this Colin Creevy. The house-elf had not only run into Colin but had caused him to waste a picture, fly into the air, and hit a wall. But now Colin seemed so excited to meet a house- elf that he had forgotten about the accident. At least he wasn't grievously injured, as at first the house-elf had wondered. Maybe the house-elf could use the boy's eagerness to his own advantage.

"I am Twinky the house-elf, and if you'll come with me to the kitchens, you can get all the pictures you want. Come, sir. Come," Twinky said, grabbing Colin's hand and dragging him eagerly down the hall and back to the kitchens. They didn't have far to go, for in his fear Twinky had been too slow and scared to get anywhere. Twinky was too short to tickle the pear on the portrait that led into the kitchens so Colin did it for him. (The house-elves used their own entrance.) As soon as the portrait swung open, Colin ran in and began photographing everything in sight. Wormtail, who had been waiting, was astonished-Colin had taken pictures of him. What would the rest of the wizarding world think, once the photos were developed? He was supposed to be dead!

Angrily, Wormtail whipped out his wand, shouted, "Imperio!" and then Colin stopped his picture-taking frenzy and stood quietly.

Wormtail smirked evilly, excitedly anticipating what his master's reaction would be. Voldemort would certainly be overjoyed that Potter and his stupid little gang were GONE. The potion he had put into the goblets of pumpkin juice would certainly get rid of them.







Harry Potter's quick, Quidditch-derived reflexes kicked in as he caught the flying pineapple. It had come sailing over from Draco Malfoy at the Slytherin table and was aimed especially for Neville Longbottom. There were snickers from the Slytherin table, which faded slightly after Harry caught the pineapple. The hush that had fallen gradually went away as a few people whispered, and then everyone resumed their conversation. No one expected Harry to do anything else about it.

"Honestly," Hermione Granger, Harry's best friend and girlfriend, said. "They act like such children! And who in their right mind throws a pineapple? It's something that you'd expect from a first year, not a sixth."

It was true. Draco had never thrown things before.

"Maybe it's his immaturity kicking in," Ron Weasley, their other best friend, said with a grin. "Oh, wait, I forgot, he's had that for years."

"Definitely," Ginny Weasley, Ron's sister, agreed.

Harry stood up, pineapple still in hand, and moved toward the Slytherins.

"Harry! Where are you going?" Hermione asked with concern.

"Be right back," he mumbled.

"Harry?" asked Hermione timidly. She reached out a hand and caught the back of his robes, drawing him back toward her.

"I'll be fine, don't worry, I'm only going across the Great Hall to knock some sense into Malfoy."

"Just don't do anything you'll regret," warned Hermione. Harry bent down and kissed her forehead before turning and leaving her.

"Go, Harry!" he heard Ron shout behind him. Harry smiled, but didn't turn around.

With long, angry strides, he reached the Slytherin table and the place where Draco Malfoy was sitting, as usual, between his cronies, Vincent Crabbe and Gregory Goyle. The whole Great Hall was hushed, aside from the scraping of forks and knives against plates that came from the high table, where the teachers sat.

"Well, if it isn't for perfect little Potter, always sticking up for the weak and fighting everyone else's battles for them," Draco sneered maliciously. Crabbe and Goyle, as if on cue, laughed loudly, as did other Slytherins who were sitting nearby.

Harry knew he shouldn't be doing this; and he wasn't sure why he was letting himself get so worked up this time out of all of the other times Malfoy had taunted his friends. But he took the pineapple and threw it down as hard as he could into Malfoy's soup bowl. The red soup automatically flared up and went all over Malfoy's pale face and into his hair. He turned the color of the soup-Harry couldn't tell if it was the soup or Malfoy's rage turning him red.

Everyone in the Great Hall who wasn't a Slytherin burst out laughing, and even some of the teachers were having trouble not smiling. Malfoy jumped up, screaming, "My hair! My hair! Potter, what have you done to my hair! And my face! My perfect, smooth complexion! When my father hears about this-"

"Shut up, Malfoy!" shouted half the students in the Great Hall. All of this was too much for Harry. He was laughing so hard that tears were running down his face. No one noticed that Colin Creevy had entered the room with a tray of five goblets of pumpkin juice.

As Colin passed by Malfoy, Malfoy grabbed one of the pumpkin juices off of the tray and, intending to throw it into Harry's face, took a gulp first. He froze and sat down in his seat. However, no one else had noticed where Malfoy had gotten the pumpkin juice. Everyone began taunting Malfoy and saying he was a chicken for sitting and not facing Harry.

So when Colin continued down the aisle of tables toward Ron, Hermione, and Ginny, they also took the pumpkin juice that Colin offered and they, too, froze upon drinking it. Finally Colin went up toward Harry and, under the Imperius curse, said, "Hey Harry, want some celebratory pumpkin juice?" Harry also took a sip, unsuspecting of what he was getting himself into.

Now that all of the pumpkin juices had been drunk out of, this triggered them into action. Draco Malfoy, Hermione Granger, Ron Weasley, Ginny Weasley, and Harry Potter were lifted, frozen, into the air by unseen hands. They hung suspended in the air, their limbs lifeless, their heads dangling. They all suddenly woke up-you could tell by the way their heads snapped to attention. Then one by one they disappeared.

For everyone in the Great Hall, it was pandemonium. Teachers sprang up out of their seats and students screamed. But they had the better end of the bargain. For them, it was worry. But for Harry, Ron, Hermione, Draco, and Ginny, well--

For them, the world commenced to collapse.





A/N: Thanks a bunch for reading, and before you go, PLEASE review! As always, next chapter within a week!









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