Alesco
Chapter Thirty-Two---Nequam Creatura
*
Susan clutched Harry's hand as he pulled her into the carriage with Professor Forester, Justin Finch-Fletchley, and two other Hufflepuff girls Harry didn't know. Apparently one of them was Justin's girlfriend, because Justin was whispering attentively to her, and holding her hand.
As they sat down, Harry looked out the front window, uneasily, at the back of the thestral that began to pull their carriage. The creature reminded Harry of the terrible day he'd gone to the Ministry of Magic, when Sirius had died. Harry turned away from it, trying to pull himself together.
When he did, his eyes landed on Professor Forester, who was looking warily out the curtains of the small side window, and clutching her ready wand. She appeared nervous, and Harry couldn't tell why. Then, she closed her eyes, and seemed very far away.
Without warning, she turned to him, and let out a relieved sigh. She put her wand away, and smiled.
She whispered to him, "Are you all right, Harry?"
"Yes, ma'am." Harry muttered, and then said, "How about you?"
The professor leaned sideways, glancing out the window. Then, she leaned across to Susan and Harry.
"I've looked ahead. It looks like everything is okay. I can't believe Dumbledore even...." The professor pulled back, and then relaxed into the back of her seat. She closed her eyes again, and this time appeared to relax.
Harry realized that Susan was staring at him, with a confused look on her face. Harry just shrugged. He thought about what Hermione had told him one time, when Ron had been with Professor Forester.
She'd said that Ron had the ability to see limited events in the future. Now Harry wondered if the professor had the same ability.
Harry smiled, glad that whatever the professor had seen, it looked fine.
He turned and gazed into Susan's eyes. He had to admit he'd felt conflicted, wanting to keep the promise with Susan to take her to the first Hogsmeade visit. But then, he also wanted to stay with Ron. He missed their old chess matches, and they hadn't had the time to play recently. What with the two D.A. meetings he had already overseen within the last week (very brief ones, just to refresh everyone's abilities) he felt better then he had after Hermione told them her theories.
After all, they were only theories. There was very little they could do to prove them, and Harry had even looked every day at his Marauder's Map. He hadn't seen anything unusual there.
The ride to Hogsmeade was peaceful, and would have been silent without Justin's girlfriend giggling every now and then. From what Harry could gather from their conversation, Justin's girlfriend wanted to go to Madam Puddifoot's, and it sounded like she was winning. Harry was glad he'd already told Susan he wouldn't set one foot into the place. She had been upset...until he explained what had happened there with Cho.
So, instead, they were going to spend ten minutes of their time at the Three Broomsticks, and then they would finish off with some light shopping. The twenty-minute rule for the visit was going to be strongly upheld, based on what Professor Forester had informed them.
The carriage stopped, and Justin and his girlfriend happily jumped out. The other girl, who Susan had said was a fourth-year, veered straight toward the bookstore.
Harry helped Susan down, and Professor Forester spoke up loudly.
"I'll be patrolling between the Hog's Head and The Three Broomsticks. Please meet me here, at the carriage, at exactly ten to noon."
Harry nodded, and hoped the others had heard.
~*~
The time at the Three Broomsticks passed quickly, but pleasantly. Harry and Susan smiled at each other every now and then over their cups of hot cocoa. Agreeably, they decided they'd better get some shopping done.
"Remind me to buy some self-inking quills for Hermione. She gave me the galleons for them." Harry muttered, as he took a final sip of cocoa.
They both stood up, and Harry was placing a tip on the table, when an owl nearly hit him in the head.
"Watch it!" Harry bellowed as he ducked, and the owl's talons grazed the top of his head.
Susan managed to grab the single sheet of newspaper it had dropped.
Harry turned to see another sheet of newspaper magically appear in the bird's talons, and the owl dropped it into someone's waiting hands.
"Oh no!" Susan stared at the sheet of newspaper, wide-eyed....and shocked.
Harry moved around to read it, too.
~
DAILY PROPHET
~ALERT-----SPECIAL EDITION-----ALERT~
"The Daily Prophet has learned that an attack has just been made on the high-security prison, Azkaban. An employee at the prison, a wizard we will leave unnamed, barely managed to survive. He has been able to report to us the Death Eaters (yes, we repeat, Death Eaters) arrived, and somehow disabled several Dementors. At that, they persuaded other Dementors to join them and released many top prisoners--among them, Bellatrix Lestrange and Lucius Malfoy.
"We will continue to keep you posted on developments through Instant Owl Reports.
"Aurors have been dispatched to several vital locations, including the Ministry of Magic and Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. International Magical Agencies have also been contacted.
"We will continue to keep you posted on developments through Instant Owl Reports. This concludes this Special Edition Alert."
~
"This is not good." Harry said softly, just as Justin and his girlfriend ran into the Three Broomsticks.
"Did you see, Harry?" Justin asked excitedly.
"Yeah, we'd better let Professor Forester know, if she doesn't already." Harry turned to Susan, and took her hand. She was crunching the Daily Prophet Special Alert in her free hand, and letting it fall to the floor.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Hermione gazed desperately toward the closed door of the Room of Requirement, and tried to put on her clothes faster then she ever had. Ron had left her there, still very sleepy, without explaining what he'd seen. She figured he'd had another vision, and what he'd seen must have been important.
Pulling her wand from extra pocket she'd sewn into her jeans, she rushed out the door and ran toward the common room.
She met a few students on the way, but none were prefects, and unfortunately she didn't see any teachers. Groaning from a stitch in her side, the site of her old injury, she continued onward.
She arrived there on winged feet, and ran, gasping, to the fat lady. "Domina domna."
The portrait hole swung open, and Hermione's breath was almost gone. Neville and Ginny were nowhere in sight, and the common room was empty.
Hermione ran up the familiar stairs of the boy's dormitory. She knocked desperately at the sixth-year door, hoping they were there.
Neville opened the door after moment. He looked a bit surprised to see Hermione there, breathing heavily.
"Ginny, is she in there?" Hermione knelt down, clutching her wand, resting her palms on her knees, and trying to regain her breathing.
"Uh, yeah--" Neville stuttered, and then Ginny spoke up. "Hermione? What's wrong?"
Ginny came to the door.
Hermione was pleased to see they were both fully clothed.
She swallowed, and stood up. "Ron needs help...in the dungeons, Snape's quarters. Someone's got to go and inform Dumbledore, and I think one of you should come with me."
Ginny spoke up at once, authoritatively. "I'll go get Dumbledore, I know the password to his study. Neville, you go with Hermione."
Hermione was amazed at the calm in Ginny's face, as she leaned over and kissed Neville's cheek softly.
Neville blushed, and looked terribly embarrassed. That didn't stop him from turning fully to Ginny and kissing her gently on the lips.
Hermione looked around impatiently. Abruptly, Neville and Ginny ended their embrace, and Hermione was pleased. They'd finally be heading down to the dungeons. At least Hermione's ring hadn't.....
Neville and Ginny's footsteps pattered loudly after Hermione as she ran out the portrait hole. Without looking back, Hermione could tell when Ginny turned to run toward Professor Dumbledore's study.
As they were running down the stairs, Neville asked nervously, "You said we were going to the dungeons?"
"Yes." Hermione said simply, breathing heavily, and pushing wisps of wet curly hair out of her eyes.
"Oh." Neville was panting behind her, but he was keeping up the pace. His voice held a bit of fear.
Hermione smiled at that, remembering Neville's overwhelming fear of Severus Snape.
For a strange reason, Hermione thought Neville wouldn't have to worry about them running into Professor Snape.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Ron pulled his wand out of his pocket, as he ran as fast as he could to Snape's quarters. As he ran down the dungeon hallway, he slowed. He wanted to stop the man in the cape from cursing Snape, but he could already see he was too late. A brief flash of green glinted throughout the hall, and then he heard the man say, "The Hog's Head." As Ron eased up to the open door, he saw Malfoy shuffling through papers on Snape's desk.
Ron felt himself walk, unafraid, into the room.
Malfoy looked up, as Ron continued to walk toward him. "What the fuck do you think you're doing in here, Weas-"
Ron tossed his wand into his left hand, and soundly clocked Malfoy in the nose.
Malfoy slumped against the wall, reached up, and grabbed his face.
"You pwick, you bwoke my fwuckin' nwose!" Malfoy glared, and pulled his hands back. His nose was bleeding heavily.
Ron pushed out to him. Tell me who that was, and what you've done. Tell me everything. And fast.
That was precisely what Malfoy did. He was no longer concerned about the blood that was pouring onto his lips. Instead, he only wanted to perform the task that Ron had set out for him.
Malfoy told Ron that a well-dressed wizard visited the Malfoy Mansion during the summer, and gave Malfoy a special pet to take care of. The man had told Malfoy that if he wanted to get revenge on those who'd incarcerated his father, he'd bring the rat to Hogwarts and allow it to run rampant in the castle.
Malfoy soon learned that the rat was really a Death Eater...and a respected one, at that. Malfoy admitted seeing the rat transform and communicate late at night in the Slytherin common room fireplace.
Ron rubbed his face, and burned with anger. Wormtail, that bloody rancid rat, was back.
Nothing good would come of this. Voldemort had planned it all.
Ron couldn't understand why Wormtail hadn't come after him. After all...Ron was the target....right? And why had Snape been cursed? Why had Wormtail gone to The Hog's Head?
Ron pushed out to Malfoy, Tell me what Wormtail is planning.
"Wormtail? That's his name?" Malfoy briefly asked, before laughing moistly. Blood spurted out his lips, and Ron quickly turned away. Malfoy rapidly said, "I don't know what he is planning. Like I said, they just kept telling me that if I wanted revenge, I'd do anything the rat asked."
Ron pushed Malfoy into the wall behind Snape's desk, and he slumped limply to the floor. Ron turned around, and briefly knelt at Snape's side.
He grimaced before daring to touch the professor's neck. After a moment, he felt a pulse, and was satisfied. It was weak, but Snape was still alive.
Ron wasn't sure if he should feel happy or sad about that...but now he had to find Wormtail.
Taking floo powder from the mantle, he threw it into the fire. He stepped inside the fireplace.
Best not go to The Hog's Head straight away, he thought.
He said the first thing that came to his mind...the safest possible place in Hogsmeade he could think of.
"Honeydukes!"
Just as he said the word, he saw, through the pleasantly warm blaze of green flame, Hermione and Neville rush Snape's room. They were holding sheets of paper, and he vaguely recognized how worried they looked before he felt himself being pulled along, past numerous fireplace grates.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Harry pulled Susan from The Three Broomsticks, Justin and his girl in tow. Wizards and witches were running through the streets, and Harry looked around desperately.
The Instant Owl Report was causing more panic then Harry had ever seen. To find a tall, curly-haired witch in this mess was going to be a quite a task.
After tugging Susan through a crowd of panicked, elderly witches, Harry saw something he knew shouldn't be there.
He saw a glimpse of brilliant red hair, on a tall, lanky boy...who wasn't wearing a jacket.
Harry was about to pull Susan toward the boy, when someone plowed into him from the shop door they were standing next to.
He turned, and to his surprise, he was facing Hermione and Neville!
"What are you doing here?" Harry mouthed, and he feared the worse.
Hermione looked pale. "Ron just flooed here. Have you seen him?"
Harry inwardly groaned. "He went into The Hog's Head."
Hermione looked panicked. "We've got to follow him! Something's happening....did you get this?" She held up her Instant Owl Report.
All the sudden, Neville spoke up beside them. "What about Dumbledore? He won't know what happened! Ginny doesn't know where we went!"
Harry saw Hermione begin to breathe heavily, and her brow crinkled with worry. Then Harry saw her gaze toward Justin.
"Justin, can you floo to Snape's Quarters and wait for Dumbledore? Can you please tell him we went to The Hog's Head?"
Justin nodded anxiously, and started to pull his girlfriend through the growing crowd, into Honeyduke's.
Harry looked at Susan. He didn't want her involved in this mess.
"Susan...." He grasped her hand tightly.
"Harry, don't even say it. I'm coming with you." Her eyes were boring into his, and Harry knew he couldn't argue with that look.
"Fine. Just stay close to me." Harry took out his wand, and Susan took out hers.
Hermione was shivering beside him, Susan clinging to his side, and Neville tagging along, as they pushed their way into The Hog's Head.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
A/N: You won't have to wait long.......
Chapter Thirty-Two---Nequam Creatura
*
Susan clutched Harry's hand as he pulled her into the carriage with Professor Forester, Justin Finch-Fletchley, and two other Hufflepuff girls Harry didn't know. Apparently one of them was Justin's girlfriend, because Justin was whispering attentively to her, and holding her hand.
As they sat down, Harry looked out the front window, uneasily, at the back of the thestral that began to pull their carriage. The creature reminded Harry of the terrible day he'd gone to the Ministry of Magic, when Sirius had died. Harry turned away from it, trying to pull himself together.
When he did, his eyes landed on Professor Forester, who was looking warily out the curtains of the small side window, and clutching her ready wand. She appeared nervous, and Harry couldn't tell why. Then, she closed her eyes, and seemed very far away.
Without warning, she turned to him, and let out a relieved sigh. She put her wand away, and smiled.
She whispered to him, "Are you all right, Harry?"
"Yes, ma'am." Harry muttered, and then said, "How about you?"
The professor leaned sideways, glancing out the window. Then, she leaned across to Susan and Harry.
"I've looked ahead. It looks like everything is okay. I can't believe Dumbledore even...." The professor pulled back, and then relaxed into the back of her seat. She closed her eyes again, and this time appeared to relax.
Harry realized that Susan was staring at him, with a confused look on her face. Harry just shrugged. He thought about what Hermione had told him one time, when Ron had been with Professor Forester.
She'd said that Ron had the ability to see limited events in the future. Now Harry wondered if the professor had the same ability.
Harry smiled, glad that whatever the professor had seen, it looked fine.
He turned and gazed into Susan's eyes. He had to admit he'd felt conflicted, wanting to keep the promise with Susan to take her to the first Hogsmeade visit. But then, he also wanted to stay with Ron. He missed their old chess matches, and they hadn't had the time to play recently. What with the two D.A. meetings he had already overseen within the last week (very brief ones, just to refresh everyone's abilities) he felt better then he had after Hermione told them her theories.
After all, they were only theories. There was very little they could do to prove them, and Harry had even looked every day at his Marauder's Map. He hadn't seen anything unusual there.
The ride to Hogsmeade was peaceful, and would have been silent without Justin's girlfriend giggling every now and then. From what Harry could gather from their conversation, Justin's girlfriend wanted to go to Madam Puddifoot's, and it sounded like she was winning. Harry was glad he'd already told Susan he wouldn't set one foot into the place. She had been upset...until he explained what had happened there with Cho.
So, instead, they were going to spend ten minutes of their time at the Three Broomsticks, and then they would finish off with some light shopping. The twenty-minute rule for the visit was going to be strongly upheld, based on what Professor Forester had informed them.
The carriage stopped, and Justin and his girlfriend happily jumped out. The other girl, who Susan had said was a fourth-year, veered straight toward the bookstore.
Harry helped Susan down, and Professor Forester spoke up loudly.
"I'll be patrolling between the Hog's Head and The Three Broomsticks. Please meet me here, at the carriage, at exactly ten to noon."
Harry nodded, and hoped the others had heard.
~*~
The time at the Three Broomsticks passed quickly, but pleasantly. Harry and Susan smiled at each other every now and then over their cups of hot cocoa. Agreeably, they decided they'd better get some shopping done.
"Remind me to buy some self-inking quills for Hermione. She gave me the galleons for them." Harry muttered, as he took a final sip of cocoa.
They both stood up, and Harry was placing a tip on the table, when an owl nearly hit him in the head.
"Watch it!" Harry bellowed as he ducked, and the owl's talons grazed the top of his head.
Susan managed to grab the single sheet of newspaper it had dropped.
Harry turned to see another sheet of newspaper magically appear in the bird's talons, and the owl dropped it into someone's waiting hands.
"Oh no!" Susan stared at the sheet of newspaper, wide-eyed....and shocked.
Harry moved around to read it, too.
~
DAILY PROPHET
~ALERT-----SPECIAL EDITION-----ALERT~
"The Daily Prophet has learned that an attack has just been made on the high-security prison, Azkaban. An employee at the prison, a wizard we will leave unnamed, barely managed to survive. He has been able to report to us the Death Eaters (yes, we repeat, Death Eaters) arrived, and somehow disabled several Dementors. At that, they persuaded other Dementors to join them and released many top prisoners--among them, Bellatrix Lestrange and Lucius Malfoy.
"We will continue to keep you posted on developments through Instant Owl Reports.
"Aurors have been dispatched to several vital locations, including the Ministry of Magic and Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. International Magical Agencies have also been contacted.
"We will continue to keep you posted on developments through Instant Owl Reports. This concludes this Special Edition Alert."
~
"This is not good." Harry said softly, just as Justin and his girlfriend ran into the Three Broomsticks.
"Did you see, Harry?" Justin asked excitedly.
"Yeah, we'd better let Professor Forester know, if she doesn't already." Harry turned to Susan, and took her hand. She was crunching the Daily Prophet Special Alert in her free hand, and letting it fall to the floor.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Hermione gazed desperately toward the closed door of the Room of Requirement, and tried to put on her clothes faster then she ever had. Ron had left her there, still very sleepy, without explaining what he'd seen. She figured he'd had another vision, and what he'd seen must have been important.
Pulling her wand from extra pocket she'd sewn into her jeans, she rushed out the door and ran toward the common room.
She met a few students on the way, but none were prefects, and unfortunately she didn't see any teachers. Groaning from a stitch in her side, the site of her old injury, she continued onward.
She arrived there on winged feet, and ran, gasping, to the fat lady. "Domina domna."
The portrait hole swung open, and Hermione's breath was almost gone. Neville and Ginny were nowhere in sight, and the common room was empty.
Hermione ran up the familiar stairs of the boy's dormitory. She knocked desperately at the sixth-year door, hoping they were there.
Neville opened the door after moment. He looked a bit surprised to see Hermione there, breathing heavily.
"Ginny, is she in there?" Hermione knelt down, clutching her wand, resting her palms on her knees, and trying to regain her breathing.
"Uh, yeah--" Neville stuttered, and then Ginny spoke up. "Hermione? What's wrong?"
Ginny came to the door.
Hermione was pleased to see they were both fully clothed.
She swallowed, and stood up. "Ron needs help...in the dungeons, Snape's quarters. Someone's got to go and inform Dumbledore, and I think one of you should come with me."
Ginny spoke up at once, authoritatively. "I'll go get Dumbledore, I know the password to his study. Neville, you go with Hermione."
Hermione was amazed at the calm in Ginny's face, as she leaned over and kissed Neville's cheek softly.
Neville blushed, and looked terribly embarrassed. That didn't stop him from turning fully to Ginny and kissing her gently on the lips.
Hermione looked around impatiently. Abruptly, Neville and Ginny ended their embrace, and Hermione was pleased. They'd finally be heading down to the dungeons. At least Hermione's ring hadn't.....
Neville and Ginny's footsteps pattered loudly after Hermione as she ran out the portrait hole. Without looking back, Hermione could tell when Ginny turned to run toward Professor Dumbledore's study.
As they were running down the stairs, Neville asked nervously, "You said we were going to the dungeons?"
"Yes." Hermione said simply, breathing heavily, and pushing wisps of wet curly hair out of her eyes.
"Oh." Neville was panting behind her, but he was keeping up the pace. His voice held a bit of fear.
Hermione smiled at that, remembering Neville's overwhelming fear of Severus Snape.
For a strange reason, Hermione thought Neville wouldn't have to worry about them running into Professor Snape.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Ron pulled his wand out of his pocket, as he ran as fast as he could to Snape's quarters. As he ran down the dungeon hallway, he slowed. He wanted to stop the man in the cape from cursing Snape, but he could already see he was too late. A brief flash of green glinted throughout the hall, and then he heard the man say, "The Hog's Head." As Ron eased up to the open door, he saw Malfoy shuffling through papers on Snape's desk.
Ron felt himself walk, unafraid, into the room.
Malfoy looked up, as Ron continued to walk toward him. "What the fuck do you think you're doing in here, Weas-"
Ron tossed his wand into his left hand, and soundly clocked Malfoy in the nose.
Malfoy slumped against the wall, reached up, and grabbed his face.
"You pwick, you bwoke my fwuckin' nwose!" Malfoy glared, and pulled his hands back. His nose was bleeding heavily.
Ron pushed out to him. Tell me who that was, and what you've done. Tell me everything. And fast.
That was precisely what Malfoy did. He was no longer concerned about the blood that was pouring onto his lips. Instead, he only wanted to perform the task that Ron had set out for him.
Malfoy told Ron that a well-dressed wizard visited the Malfoy Mansion during the summer, and gave Malfoy a special pet to take care of. The man had told Malfoy that if he wanted to get revenge on those who'd incarcerated his father, he'd bring the rat to Hogwarts and allow it to run rampant in the castle.
Malfoy soon learned that the rat was really a Death Eater...and a respected one, at that. Malfoy admitted seeing the rat transform and communicate late at night in the Slytherin common room fireplace.
Ron rubbed his face, and burned with anger. Wormtail, that bloody rancid rat, was back.
Nothing good would come of this. Voldemort had planned it all.
Ron couldn't understand why Wormtail hadn't come after him. After all...Ron was the target....right? And why had Snape been cursed? Why had Wormtail gone to The Hog's Head?
Ron pushed out to Malfoy, Tell me what Wormtail is planning.
"Wormtail? That's his name?" Malfoy briefly asked, before laughing moistly. Blood spurted out his lips, and Ron quickly turned away. Malfoy rapidly said, "I don't know what he is planning. Like I said, they just kept telling me that if I wanted revenge, I'd do anything the rat asked."
Ron pushed Malfoy into the wall behind Snape's desk, and he slumped limply to the floor. Ron turned around, and briefly knelt at Snape's side.
He grimaced before daring to touch the professor's neck. After a moment, he felt a pulse, and was satisfied. It was weak, but Snape was still alive.
Ron wasn't sure if he should feel happy or sad about that...but now he had to find Wormtail.
Taking floo powder from the mantle, he threw it into the fire. He stepped inside the fireplace.
Best not go to The Hog's Head straight away, he thought.
He said the first thing that came to his mind...the safest possible place in Hogsmeade he could think of.
"Honeydukes!"
Just as he said the word, he saw, through the pleasantly warm blaze of green flame, Hermione and Neville rush Snape's room. They were holding sheets of paper, and he vaguely recognized how worried they looked before he felt himself being pulled along, past numerous fireplace grates.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Harry pulled Susan from The Three Broomsticks, Justin and his girl in tow. Wizards and witches were running through the streets, and Harry looked around desperately.
The Instant Owl Report was causing more panic then Harry had ever seen. To find a tall, curly-haired witch in this mess was going to be a quite a task.
After tugging Susan through a crowd of panicked, elderly witches, Harry saw something he knew shouldn't be there.
He saw a glimpse of brilliant red hair, on a tall, lanky boy...who wasn't wearing a jacket.
Harry was about to pull Susan toward the boy, when someone plowed into him from the shop door they were standing next to.
He turned, and to his surprise, he was facing Hermione and Neville!
"What are you doing here?" Harry mouthed, and he feared the worse.
Hermione looked pale. "Ron just flooed here. Have you seen him?"
Harry inwardly groaned. "He went into The Hog's Head."
Hermione looked panicked. "We've got to follow him! Something's happening....did you get this?" She held up her Instant Owl Report.
All the sudden, Neville spoke up beside them. "What about Dumbledore? He won't know what happened! Ginny doesn't know where we went!"
Harry saw Hermione begin to breathe heavily, and her brow crinkled with worry. Then Harry saw her gaze toward Justin.
"Justin, can you floo to Snape's Quarters and wait for Dumbledore? Can you please tell him we went to The Hog's Head?"
Justin nodded anxiously, and started to pull his girlfriend through the growing crowd, into Honeyduke's.
Harry looked at Susan. He didn't want her involved in this mess.
"Susan...." He grasped her hand tightly.
"Harry, don't even say it. I'm coming with you." Her eyes were boring into his, and Harry knew he couldn't argue with that look.
"Fine. Just stay close to me." Harry took out his wand, and Susan took out hers.
Hermione was shivering beside him, Susan clinging to his side, and Neville tagging along, as they pushed their way into The Hog's Head.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
A/N: You won't have to wait long.......