A/N: Sorry for the wait, everyone! Please read and review!
Voldemort's Worst Scandal
Chapter Seven
The Journey Begins
Finally, after spending the night at Malachi and Allegra's cottage, everyone (including Ginny and Draco) was awake and well rested. Outside, the storm from the previous day still raged, and the rain ran off the thatched roof and fell in torrents. The only warm place in the cottage was near the fireplace.
So now, Hermione, Ginny, Ron, Draco, Malachi, and Allegra were sitting on stools near the fireplace with blankets draped over their shoulders. At first Draco had refused to take "one of those filthy rags" but after the fireplace failed to provide enough warmth, he had reluctantly agreed to take one. They were all in a circle, trying to decide what to do.
"You just wait until my father finds out about this. He'll kill you all!" exclaimed Draco importantly. He had been refusing to eat the food, and it appeared as though he was planning on waiting until he was starving.
"Shut up, Malfoy," said Ron, Ginny, and Hermione at the same time, throwing him very dirty looks. Surprisingly, he did shut up.
Hermione's eyes suddenly lit up. "Allegra," she said, "and Malachi, I think you may be able to help us. Do you know where Godric Gryffindor was supposedly going when he left Godric's Hollow?"
"I know that he went north. I know not the town or its location, though. Just that he went north." Allegra said. "Before he left, he promised me that he'd come back for me. He said that we'd marry, and our children would learn from the great school that he'd build. And now that I know that he's done that, all I have left to do is wait."
"So he went north. Any idea how far?" asked Ron.
Allegra shook her head.
"Well," Ginny said, determined, "We'll find them. But we just have to find out how."
Hermione's eyes lit up with that familiar "I just got a brilliant idea" look, and she said, "What month is it around here?"
"December, lass. I'm surprised that all of this rain that's falling isn't snow yet, what with the cold." Replied Malachi.
Hermione appeared to be thinking. She ran to the window and looked out into the semi-lighted outside world. She could barely see ten feet away from the cottage in all of this rain, so she called out, "Is there a lake or, even better, a river that runs north from here?"
"There's a river in the village that goes north. Traders seldom come by it, though. Tis a dangerous route, that river. It's the one Godric Gryffindor departed on when he left." Allegra said wistfully.
"Well, we'll go by boat, and we'll travel north. When the water freezes we'll leave the boat behind and walk on the ice. We're sure to run across the places Godric came to, if we travel along the same path. And where there's Godric, I have a feeling there'll be Harry." Said Hermione.
"Is it common where you come from to have such intelligent females?" Malachi wanted to know.
Ron rolled his eyes. "Fortunately, no. She-" he was interrupted suddenly by Allegra.
"I'm going with you, when you go," she said. "I must find Godric."
"Sister, you'll stay here! There's danger in those waters! That river runs in from the ocean, and in the ocean there are dreaded sea serpents, just to name a few." Malachi said.
"And who says that the sea serpents will come into the river?" asked Allegra. "You would do this too, if he had been your best friend."
"When do we leave?" Ron inquired of Hermione.
She pondered a moment, and declared, "As soon as the weather clears up. Tomorrow morning, I would hope, but from the looks of things, it won't be for a few days. We'd better pack, though, just in case. And Malachi, Allegra, you're welcome to come with us. You have extended your hospitality beyond anything we could have expected. Now I just ask one more favor of you."
"Yes?" Malachi asked.
"We'll need supplies for the trip. Food, blankets...and do you, by any chance, know someone who has canoes?"
***
Pandemonium had broken out at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, particularly in the Great Hall. Five students had just disappeared and now the house-elves were hand-delivering five hundred roast turkeys. Students were all yelling things out, Prefects were trying to calm things down, and just about every first year girl was dissolved in tears. The teachers were trying to calm things down. Professor McGonagall, who was substituting as Headmistress in Albus Dumbledore's brief absence, finally took out her wand and conjured a golden goblet into a screaming banshee to distract everyone. But instead of quieting everyone down, all of the girls and some of the boys screamed at the top of their lungs and started scrambling for the door! McGonagall was getting angrier and angrier.
McGonagall got rid of the banshee, pointed her wand at her throat, and shouted, "Sonorus!" Now with her voice magically magnified, she announced, "Now, everyone is to calm down at once! Prefects, lead your Houses back to the dormitories. No one is to leave their dormitory for any reason whatsoever, and he who does will wish he had never set foot in Hogwarts at all. Are there any questions?"
No one said anything. Even Fred and George Weasley found that this was a time to keep quiet. McGonagall continued, "Good. Since no one has questions, then everyone shall remain absolutely silent until you reach your dormitory. Anyone besides a Prefect who speaks a word between here and their dormitory has an automatic one-month detention with Professor Snape in the dungeons. Do I make myself clear?" Everyone nodded sullenly, since they couldn't talk. The mere prospect of one detention was frightening enough; say nothing about a whole month of them.
"Then you may proceed to the dormitories," McGonagall concluded. A great scraping of chairs, clattering of silverware and goblets as they were put back onto the table, and swishing of robes was heard as everyone got up. Their feet made thundering sounds, but not even the slightest whisper sounded through the Great Hall, much to McGonagall's relief. Once the students were all gone, she said to the teachers, "All right, staff meeting in five minutes."
"I'll bring doughnuts!" said Professor Flitwick jovially.
***
Professor Severus Snape was the last teacher to sweep into the staff room. Seeing that he was the last to arrive, he closed the door behind him and glided over to his chair, which was the only one that was left empty.
"Doughnuts, Severus?" offered Professor Flitwick. He held out a cardboard box full of frosted doughnuts. "There's cinnamon, plain, sugared, chocolate, strawberry drizzle-"
"This is serious, Flitwick!" Snape snapped. "A Slytherin is missing and we must do all in our power to get him back!"
"There are also four Gryffindors missing, Severus. And we must get them all back. We just have to figure out what caused them to disappear." Professor McGonagall said.
"I sense that it was a dark force...." said none other that Professor Trelawney, the Divination teacher. McGonagall rolled her eyes and continued.
"I owled Albus, and he should be back soon. He'll know how to handle the-" she was cut off again by Trelawney.
"As I was gazing into my crystal last night, a strange sight was revealed to me. I was absorbed in the clairvoyant fumes when a shape made itself known to me...it was-" again, she was cut off by McGonagall.
"I prefer to base my knowledge of events on actual fact, Sibyl," said McGonagall. "This is a time for seriousness, not half-guessed assumptions from your stupid crystal ball."
"Minerva!" Professor Flitwick exclaimed, appalled, although he agreed with her. It just didn't seem like something McGonagall would normally say.
"For your information, Professor, I wouldn't have been hired at all if Albus didn't think that I was suited for the job! You should take advantage of how fortunate you are to have knowledge of the future!" Professor Trelawney retorted, enraged.
"And you, Sibyl, should take advantage of the fact that I am Headmistress in Albus' absence and I am ordering you to hold your excessively used tongue," McGonagall said firmly.
"Really, Professors, zis isn't ze time to quarrel. Zis is ze time to stick togezzer, so zat we may regain ze missing students," said the new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher, Fleur Delacour.
"Professor Delacour's right. Let's discuss the important matters. Professor Dumbledore'd be right ashamed of us," spoke up Hagrid.
"On to the business then, shall we?" asked Flitwick, munching on a strawberry drizzled doughnut and opening an ancient book in his hands (he had been sitting on it previously so that he could see over the top of the table), which contained disappearing charms. As he opened the book, the binding cracked and a huge cloud of dust emerged from the pages, covering both the tiny Flitwick and his doughnut. "Oh," he cried in dismay, "too bad, that was the last strawberry one, too!"
***
Completely unaware that their teachers, rather than doing something productive to get them back, were bickering and eating doughnuts, the Hogwarts students were being helped by Malachi and Allegra to gather their supplies for the journey. Malachi had agreed, after a long and quite heated argument, to allow Allegra to accompany the rest, and he had decided to come along as well, to "protect Allegra", as he said. At the moment, Hermione was ordering them all around, telling them what would be best to bring and what should be left behind.
"Ron, why don't you grab those blankets?" she inquired over the noise of Malachi and Draco hauling the canoe to the path, where they would soon depart. They had finally convinced Draco to at least participate minimally in the preparations, after threatening to sell him as a slave to the local villagers. Allegra had teased him, "Yes, the old housewives are always dying for extra help, and what's better, they always reward their slaves. Usually one of their naughty children is forced to marry the hardworking ones."
A few other memorable events had gone on, too. Ron and Allegra had been sent to the barn to get some sacks, and when they didn't return for awhile, Malachi went to find them and discovered them kissing in one of the empty stalls. Now he was even more paranoid about letting her go. "I'll be keeping you next to my side at all times," he said fiercely.
Luckily, the weather had taken a turn for the better, so they were ready to depart within a few minutes. Hermione, Ron, Draco, and Ginny had been given new clothes by Malachi and Allegra, so that they would be warmer. Draco had refused to accept these, but had relented once he stepped outside the cottage and had felt for himself the cold bite of the weather. In return, Hermione had put Warming Charms on all of their clothes. It seemed that in the year 987, Warming Charms had yet to be invented.
And Hermione was constantly afraid of messing up the future. She had had much experience with time travel, and was constantly fretting. "I wasn't in my right mind," she assured Ron in private, "when I invited them along. What if this changes the future? What if..." but Ron had comforted her, telling her that everything would be fine and not to worry. Not that it helped.
When all of the preparations were made, they were ready to begin their journey. Malachi, Draco, and Ron dragged the canoe through the forest to the river, while Draco complained about getting his hands dirty. Hermione, Ginny, and Allegra carried the provisions and other things they had packed. Ginny's ears were red from the cold, and Hermione, fearing that they would freeze, had tied a scarf over her head and had crowned it with a Warming Charm, which had turned out to be yet another specialty of hers.
Ron had made the most delightful discovery, however, as he helped Allegra into the canoe once it was in the water. Draco was already in it and as Ron looked over at Draco, he noticed that Draco's nose was red! It looked especially funny on top of Draco's impossibly white complexion and silvery blond hair.
Immediately, Ron had begun to call Draco "Rudolph", after Santa's reindeer. (A/N: yes, even the wizarding world has a Santa () Draco, however, not making this assumption directly, exclaimed, "How did you find out my middle name?"
And that was how "Malfoy" became "Rudy". At least, to Ron.
Their journey had been underway for a short while when a piercing scream rang through the forest. It was Ginny, who was sitting in the back of the canoe. An impossibly huge, indistinguishable shape was heading their way....
A/N: Don't forget to review! (
Kanzer: Thanks!
Bamboo Anime: Harry and the Founders are coming...eventually :) I've only been to Manhattan, much to my regret. I really want to see the other parts of NYC, though. You're lucky to have so many people there and so many connections to it!!!
AgiVega: Thanks a lot! LOL, more Lucius in the next chappie. And you ain't seen any temper yet... lol
nut job: no problem about not reviewing in so long, it's all right-look how long it's taken me to get this chapter up! Lol. I go to some reliable (I think) websites about symbols to find out things like that. If you'd like to know them, I'll tell you.
Voldemort's Worst Scandal
Chapter Seven
The Journey Begins
Finally, after spending the night at Malachi and Allegra's cottage, everyone (including Ginny and Draco) was awake and well rested. Outside, the storm from the previous day still raged, and the rain ran off the thatched roof and fell in torrents. The only warm place in the cottage was near the fireplace.
So now, Hermione, Ginny, Ron, Draco, Malachi, and Allegra were sitting on stools near the fireplace with blankets draped over their shoulders. At first Draco had refused to take "one of those filthy rags" but after the fireplace failed to provide enough warmth, he had reluctantly agreed to take one. They were all in a circle, trying to decide what to do.
"You just wait until my father finds out about this. He'll kill you all!" exclaimed Draco importantly. He had been refusing to eat the food, and it appeared as though he was planning on waiting until he was starving.
"Shut up, Malfoy," said Ron, Ginny, and Hermione at the same time, throwing him very dirty looks. Surprisingly, he did shut up.
Hermione's eyes suddenly lit up. "Allegra," she said, "and Malachi, I think you may be able to help us. Do you know where Godric Gryffindor was supposedly going when he left Godric's Hollow?"
"I know that he went north. I know not the town or its location, though. Just that he went north." Allegra said. "Before he left, he promised me that he'd come back for me. He said that we'd marry, and our children would learn from the great school that he'd build. And now that I know that he's done that, all I have left to do is wait."
"So he went north. Any idea how far?" asked Ron.
Allegra shook her head.
"Well," Ginny said, determined, "We'll find them. But we just have to find out how."
Hermione's eyes lit up with that familiar "I just got a brilliant idea" look, and she said, "What month is it around here?"
"December, lass. I'm surprised that all of this rain that's falling isn't snow yet, what with the cold." Replied Malachi.
Hermione appeared to be thinking. She ran to the window and looked out into the semi-lighted outside world. She could barely see ten feet away from the cottage in all of this rain, so she called out, "Is there a lake or, even better, a river that runs north from here?"
"There's a river in the village that goes north. Traders seldom come by it, though. Tis a dangerous route, that river. It's the one Godric Gryffindor departed on when he left." Allegra said wistfully.
"Well, we'll go by boat, and we'll travel north. When the water freezes we'll leave the boat behind and walk on the ice. We're sure to run across the places Godric came to, if we travel along the same path. And where there's Godric, I have a feeling there'll be Harry." Said Hermione.
"Is it common where you come from to have such intelligent females?" Malachi wanted to know.
Ron rolled his eyes. "Fortunately, no. She-" he was interrupted suddenly by Allegra.
"I'm going with you, when you go," she said. "I must find Godric."
"Sister, you'll stay here! There's danger in those waters! That river runs in from the ocean, and in the ocean there are dreaded sea serpents, just to name a few." Malachi said.
"And who says that the sea serpents will come into the river?" asked Allegra. "You would do this too, if he had been your best friend."
"When do we leave?" Ron inquired of Hermione.
She pondered a moment, and declared, "As soon as the weather clears up. Tomorrow morning, I would hope, but from the looks of things, it won't be for a few days. We'd better pack, though, just in case. And Malachi, Allegra, you're welcome to come with us. You have extended your hospitality beyond anything we could have expected. Now I just ask one more favor of you."
"Yes?" Malachi asked.
"We'll need supplies for the trip. Food, blankets...and do you, by any chance, know someone who has canoes?"
***
Pandemonium had broken out at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, particularly in the Great Hall. Five students had just disappeared and now the house-elves were hand-delivering five hundred roast turkeys. Students were all yelling things out, Prefects were trying to calm things down, and just about every first year girl was dissolved in tears. The teachers were trying to calm things down. Professor McGonagall, who was substituting as Headmistress in Albus Dumbledore's brief absence, finally took out her wand and conjured a golden goblet into a screaming banshee to distract everyone. But instead of quieting everyone down, all of the girls and some of the boys screamed at the top of their lungs and started scrambling for the door! McGonagall was getting angrier and angrier.
McGonagall got rid of the banshee, pointed her wand at her throat, and shouted, "Sonorus!" Now with her voice magically magnified, she announced, "Now, everyone is to calm down at once! Prefects, lead your Houses back to the dormitories. No one is to leave their dormitory for any reason whatsoever, and he who does will wish he had never set foot in Hogwarts at all. Are there any questions?"
No one said anything. Even Fred and George Weasley found that this was a time to keep quiet. McGonagall continued, "Good. Since no one has questions, then everyone shall remain absolutely silent until you reach your dormitory. Anyone besides a Prefect who speaks a word between here and their dormitory has an automatic one-month detention with Professor Snape in the dungeons. Do I make myself clear?" Everyone nodded sullenly, since they couldn't talk. The mere prospect of one detention was frightening enough; say nothing about a whole month of them.
"Then you may proceed to the dormitories," McGonagall concluded. A great scraping of chairs, clattering of silverware and goblets as they were put back onto the table, and swishing of robes was heard as everyone got up. Their feet made thundering sounds, but not even the slightest whisper sounded through the Great Hall, much to McGonagall's relief. Once the students were all gone, she said to the teachers, "All right, staff meeting in five minutes."
"I'll bring doughnuts!" said Professor Flitwick jovially.
***
Professor Severus Snape was the last teacher to sweep into the staff room. Seeing that he was the last to arrive, he closed the door behind him and glided over to his chair, which was the only one that was left empty.
"Doughnuts, Severus?" offered Professor Flitwick. He held out a cardboard box full of frosted doughnuts. "There's cinnamon, plain, sugared, chocolate, strawberry drizzle-"
"This is serious, Flitwick!" Snape snapped. "A Slytherin is missing and we must do all in our power to get him back!"
"There are also four Gryffindors missing, Severus. And we must get them all back. We just have to figure out what caused them to disappear." Professor McGonagall said.
"I sense that it was a dark force...." said none other that Professor Trelawney, the Divination teacher. McGonagall rolled her eyes and continued.
"I owled Albus, and he should be back soon. He'll know how to handle the-" she was cut off again by Trelawney.
"As I was gazing into my crystal last night, a strange sight was revealed to me. I was absorbed in the clairvoyant fumes when a shape made itself known to me...it was-" again, she was cut off by McGonagall.
"I prefer to base my knowledge of events on actual fact, Sibyl," said McGonagall. "This is a time for seriousness, not half-guessed assumptions from your stupid crystal ball."
"Minerva!" Professor Flitwick exclaimed, appalled, although he agreed with her. It just didn't seem like something McGonagall would normally say.
"For your information, Professor, I wouldn't have been hired at all if Albus didn't think that I was suited for the job! You should take advantage of how fortunate you are to have knowledge of the future!" Professor Trelawney retorted, enraged.
"And you, Sibyl, should take advantage of the fact that I am Headmistress in Albus' absence and I am ordering you to hold your excessively used tongue," McGonagall said firmly.
"Really, Professors, zis isn't ze time to quarrel. Zis is ze time to stick togezzer, so zat we may regain ze missing students," said the new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher, Fleur Delacour.
"Professor Delacour's right. Let's discuss the important matters. Professor Dumbledore'd be right ashamed of us," spoke up Hagrid.
"On to the business then, shall we?" asked Flitwick, munching on a strawberry drizzled doughnut and opening an ancient book in his hands (he had been sitting on it previously so that he could see over the top of the table), which contained disappearing charms. As he opened the book, the binding cracked and a huge cloud of dust emerged from the pages, covering both the tiny Flitwick and his doughnut. "Oh," he cried in dismay, "too bad, that was the last strawberry one, too!"
***
Completely unaware that their teachers, rather than doing something productive to get them back, were bickering and eating doughnuts, the Hogwarts students were being helped by Malachi and Allegra to gather their supplies for the journey. Malachi had agreed, after a long and quite heated argument, to allow Allegra to accompany the rest, and he had decided to come along as well, to "protect Allegra", as he said. At the moment, Hermione was ordering them all around, telling them what would be best to bring and what should be left behind.
"Ron, why don't you grab those blankets?" she inquired over the noise of Malachi and Draco hauling the canoe to the path, where they would soon depart. They had finally convinced Draco to at least participate minimally in the preparations, after threatening to sell him as a slave to the local villagers. Allegra had teased him, "Yes, the old housewives are always dying for extra help, and what's better, they always reward their slaves. Usually one of their naughty children is forced to marry the hardworking ones."
A few other memorable events had gone on, too. Ron and Allegra had been sent to the barn to get some sacks, and when they didn't return for awhile, Malachi went to find them and discovered them kissing in one of the empty stalls. Now he was even more paranoid about letting her go. "I'll be keeping you next to my side at all times," he said fiercely.
Luckily, the weather had taken a turn for the better, so they were ready to depart within a few minutes. Hermione, Ron, Draco, and Ginny had been given new clothes by Malachi and Allegra, so that they would be warmer. Draco had refused to accept these, but had relented once he stepped outside the cottage and had felt for himself the cold bite of the weather. In return, Hermione had put Warming Charms on all of their clothes. It seemed that in the year 987, Warming Charms had yet to be invented.
And Hermione was constantly afraid of messing up the future. She had had much experience with time travel, and was constantly fretting. "I wasn't in my right mind," she assured Ron in private, "when I invited them along. What if this changes the future? What if..." but Ron had comforted her, telling her that everything would be fine and not to worry. Not that it helped.
When all of the preparations were made, they were ready to begin their journey. Malachi, Draco, and Ron dragged the canoe through the forest to the river, while Draco complained about getting his hands dirty. Hermione, Ginny, and Allegra carried the provisions and other things they had packed. Ginny's ears were red from the cold, and Hermione, fearing that they would freeze, had tied a scarf over her head and had crowned it with a Warming Charm, which had turned out to be yet another specialty of hers.
Ron had made the most delightful discovery, however, as he helped Allegra into the canoe once it was in the water. Draco was already in it and as Ron looked over at Draco, he noticed that Draco's nose was red! It looked especially funny on top of Draco's impossibly white complexion and silvery blond hair.
Immediately, Ron had begun to call Draco "Rudolph", after Santa's reindeer. (A/N: yes, even the wizarding world has a Santa () Draco, however, not making this assumption directly, exclaimed, "How did you find out my middle name?"
And that was how "Malfoy" became "Rudy". At least, to Ron.
Their journey had been underway for a short while when a piercing scream rang through the forest. It was Ginny, who was sitting in the back of the canoe. An impossibly huge, indistinguishable shape was heading their way....
A/N: Don't forget to review! (
Kanzer: Thanks!
Bamboo Anime: Harry and the Founders are coming...eventually :) I've only been to Manhattan, much to my regret. I really want to see the other parts of NYC, though. You're lucky to have so many people there and so many connections to it!!!
AgiVega: Thanks a lot! LOL, more Lucius in the next chappie. And you ain't seen any temper yet... lol
nut job: no problem about not reviewing in so long, it's all right-look how long it's taken me to get this chapter up! Lol. I go to some reliable (I think) websites about symbols to find out things like that. If you'd like to know them, I'll tell you.
